
Class. 

Book- 



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GcpigM 15L22- 



COPYRIGHT DEFOSm 



THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 
TO ENGLISH 



A TEXTBOOK FOR THE 
SEVENTH AND EIGHTH YEARS 



BY 

c. m WARD 

The Taft School, Watertown, Connecticut 

\^ AND 

H. Y. MOFFETT 

The University High School, Iowa City, Iowa 



SCOTT, FORESMAN AND COMPANY 
CHICAGO NEW YORK 



\\\ 



Y< 



\ 



Copyright 1922 by 
SCOTT, FORESMAN AND COMPANY 



For permission to use copyrighted pictures grateful 
acknowledgment is made to the Wide World Photos 
for the illustrations on pages 23, 111, 117, 143, 208, 
231, and 247; and to Underwood and Underwood 
for the illustration on page 182. 



SEP -5 1922 

5,:i.A683089 



PREFACE 

Frequently during the year when we compiled the Junior 
Highway we breathed a thanksgiving of this sort: "Now we 
have something to work with in our own classes/' If two 
men of such different temperaments, with such different expe- 
riences, in such different schools, were so agreed about their 
needs, there must be at least a few hundred teachers in the 
country w T ho will feel as we do about "having something to 
work with." We believe that our unfailing agreement is a 
proof that the book will be serviceable in many places. 

One of us gained his experience in the public school system 
of Iowa, acquiring a knowledge of junior high school conditions 
by laboring in the junior high; the other learned his trade in 
Connecticut, where he taught eighth-year boys from nearly 
every state in the Union and from all sorts of schools. We pre- 
pared ourselves for text-making by trying to earn salaries in 
the seventh and eighth years. 

Since the two schools in which we worked were so widely 
separated and had such different forms, we might have been 
expected to find our methods widely variant. Collaboration, 
always a process of reconciling differences, might have seemed 
hopeless. Yet from inception to conclusion of our joint labor 
there has been no disagreement. There have been differences 
of opinion about some emphases or devices, but "It works in 
my classes" has settled every query. The fact is that there is no 
ground for divergence in practice. American pupils twelve or 
thirteen years of age are American pupils, whether they live 
amidst factories or cornfields, whether their clocks are set by 
Atlantic or Pacific time. Earnest teachers of seventh and 
eighth-year composition always discover the same fundamental 
facts about young minds. On these fundamentals this text 
is based. 



4 PREFACE 

Certain unusual features of the book demand a few para- 
graphs of comment. 

"Sentence Work." Ever since English composition has 
been taught, teachers have known that the basic necessity is a 
knowledge of when one sentence ends and the next one begins — 
the "sentence sense," which is, as Superintendent Bernard M. 
Sheridan says in his Speaking and Writing English, "the ele- 
ment upon which all other details of composition depend and 
upon which the whole superstructure is built." Must sentence 
sense be considered a mystical instinct, not to be acquired by 
average pupils through the means of specific practical work? 
The authors of this textbook believe that there is nothing 
mysterious about this knowledge, nor about the form of 
exercise that will convey it. If any normal child is shown how 
to find the units in an easy series of simple sentences, is required 
to separate another similar passage into units, is shown bit by 
bit how sentences begin, is led step by step through slightly 
harder sentences, is instructed point by point in the verbs and 
substantives and prepositions that make sentences, is carefully 
prepared for every advance in complexity by obvious and full 
illustration, he will master a sentence sense. The lessons in 
so-called "sentence work" teach the foundations of grammar, 
making a direct application of each subject to extending tht 
pupil's sentence sense. 

Spelling. Ever since 1914* it has been known that most of 
our spelling troubles center in a few hundred common words 
that are misspelled in precisely the same way by a large propor- 
tion of the pupils of every school in the country. Successful 
Teachers have known this ; ninth-year teachers have everywhere 
exclaimed, "If only pupils knew these few hundred words when 
they come to us, we should have no spelling problem." Yet 
heretofore there has been little recognition of the difference 
between the making of spelling-lists and the actual teaching cf 
spelling. V\~e have tried to develop the only method of teach- 

*Cf. the English Journal articles: "Intensive Spelling" (Oct., 1914), "Report of the Committee 
on Economy of' Time" -Feb., 1919 , "The New Knowledge of Spelling" [Feb., 19*2). Cf. "Con- 
crete Investigation of the Material of English Spelling," by W. Franklin Jones. 



PREFACE 5 

ing spelling that secures results. An eighth-year pupil who has 
not been trained intensively in the words displayed so emphati- 
cally in the Junior Highway will be a poor speller, no matter 
how many thousands of other words he has spelled in lists; 
and any pupil who has attained a habitual mastery of the three 
hundred will not be a poor speller. That statement will sound 
incredible only to those who are not familiar with the new 
knowledge. Nor is it sufficient merely to present the three 
hundred with emphasis; they must be handled by a certain 
technique that is not yet widely known: (1) Only a few words 
must be presented at a time; (2) there must be frequent review, 
graded with increasing severity; (3) attention must be directed 
to the particular letters that cause the errors — e. g., the i in 
business, the e in doesn't, the o in lose ; (4) the image of the cor- 
rect form must be intensified by grouping similar forms together; 
(5) tests must be by means of dictated sentences; (6) spelling 
is not taught until the pupil has a fixed, invariable habit of 
using the correct form in his own writing. Any teacher who 
follows the spelling exercises provided in the various lessons 
will be applying this technique that is not even hinted at in 
previous texts. 

Grammar. After the basis of grammatical knowledge has 
been laid in Part I by sentence work, Part II extends the knowl- 
edge. The steps are carefully planned, not by academic con- 
siderations, but by classroom experience; each step is taken for 
a purpose, for application to composition. We have not been 
interested in theories of how glorious or how bad a subject 
grammar may be; but have cared only to develop such under- 
standing of language elements as we know is useful. The gram- 
matical items developed are, therefore, selected on the basis of 
"Minimum Essentials," but we have provided in the Gram- 
mar Appendix a considerable body for further study that 
may be used at the discretion of the teacher. 

Punctuation. Punctuation in the seventh year is confined 
almost entirely to the separation of sentences, because experi- 
ence shows that no other need is so great at that time. In the 



6 PREFACE 

eighth year the simpler and more necessary uses of the comma 
are exemplified; full exercises are furnished in the "Comma 
Book," a pamphlet of unpunctuated sentences . We know that 
many successful teachers have yearned for material like that 
in the "Comma Book"; we believe that no form of work will 
produce such lasting results in improved sentence structure. 

Oral Composition. It is very easy to manufacture pages 
of oral projects which purport to be "constructive" and which 
look perfectly charming; it is difficult to select such topics and 
to present them in such a way as will insure a response from 
flesh-and-blood pupils and will result in well constructed talks 
before a class. It is easy to provide the motions for using up a 
recitation period, but hard to compel young people to work 
with their intellects for the careful composing of thoughts into 
an orderly whole. We have aimed to present essentials, to 
insist upon elements, to enforce by repetition, to present a few 
simple means for securing tangible results. We hope that our 
treatment of Oral Composition will stimulate effort by its con- 
creteness. For one illustration, we have shown picturesquely 
the "and" and "so" habits, which sometimes dominate even the 
oral efforts of university instructors. For another illustration, 
we have made oral compositions permanent by stenographic 
records, so that they may be subjected to the same kind of 
searching examination that written compositions receive; for 
we know that such specific study causes progress. Throughout 
our treatment we have aimed at gradual and definite improve- 
ment in the pupil's confidence, coherence, and effectiveness. 

Written Composition. The subjects for written composi- 
tion, like those for oral, are very simple — prevailingly narration 
and explanation. We hope that we have insured constant 
attention to structure, to the contrivance of episodes and facts 
to an effective conclusion. 

General Arrangement. The purpose of our general ar- 
rangement ought to be obvious. Part I is for the seventh year, 
Part II for the eighth. The material is not grouped in bulky 
chapters, which a teacher must unpack and sort out for use; 



PREFACE 7 

it is assorted in lesson units. Each lesson is a real task for one 
day. In each Part there are 66 lessons, designed to afford the 
best material for a class that can use the book only two days a 
week. These are of prime importance, and should all be in- 
cluded in a year's course. Teachers who use more than this mini- 
mum of 66 lessons a year should estimate how many additional 
assignments they can make, and should choose these from the 
lessons marked "A" or "B" or "C" or "X." The lessons are 
planned to give that proper variety of topics which is so im- 
portant if fresh and dynamic interest is to be maintained. 
Spelling comes frequently and is frequently reviewed; about 
every other lesson is in sentence work or practical grammar; 
oral work alternates with written; letter- writing is not bunched 
in one chapter, but is extended throughout the book. A teacher 
who has not yet formed a settled program can confidently teach 
the lessons in the order in which the book presents them. A 
teacher who has such a program can easily vary the order to 
suit her own method. Teachers with a minimum of time can 
see just what material they are to use; and teachers with much 
more time can readily tell what "A" or "B" lessons are suitable 
for their needs. 

. Differentiated Courses. The previous paragraph speaks of 
the adjustment of the lessons to the needs of different schools. 
The flexible plan that we have designed may well serve for a 
more difficult and more important adjustment — for differentia- 
tion of courses within any particular class. Progressive organ- 
izers of junior high schools are everywhere striving to overcome 
the waste of mass instruction and to arrange for efficiency in 
homogeneous groups. We have faith that our book will be of 
service in connection with this most significant of recent 
pedagogic advances. In Part I, for example, the 66 numbered 
lessons represent a minimum of achievement for the group cf 
less able pupils. Such supplementary lessons as furnish the 
extra drill or review of fundamentals needed by the more 
backward may be assigned only to them. Pupils in the middle 
group may use supplementary lessons which call for con- 



8 PREFACE 

structive work of a more advanced nature. Pupils in the 
superior group, well-grounded in the fundamentals, and able 
to master their work more rapidly, may be permitted to win a 
higher grade by undertaking certain of the more difficult extra 
lessons or individual projects in composition. 

A Road to Results. While the authors were planning each 
detail of a lesson, or of the order of topics, their constant chal- 
lenge to themselves was, "How does this work in the class- 
room?" They have tried to furnish for the most intricate sub- 
ject in the curriculum a text that will open a straight, plain 
road to results. 

C. H. Ward 

H. Y. MOFFETT 



CONTENTS 

PART ONE— SEVENTH YEAR 
Lesson Page 

1. Oral 1 : "An Accident" — using "rest periods" 17 

2. Oral 2: "A Bit of an Adventure" — starting promptly and 

speaking distinctly 19 

Right Forms 1 — see 21 

2 A. Oral 3 22 

3. Spelling 1 — the a words 22 

4. Sentence Work 1 — "The Grizzly"; easy verbs 25 

5. Sentence Work 2 — separated parts of verbs 27 

6. Oral 4: "A Heroic American" — good ways to begin sentences. 28 

Right Forms 2— go 29 

6 A. Dictionary Work 1 — indicating sounds 29 

6 B. Dictionary Work 2 — arranging words alphabetical!}' 30 

6 C. Dictionary Work 3 — looking up and pronouncing 31 

7. Spelling 2 — words like know, perhaps, across 31 

Sentence Work 3— "The Water Fight" . 32 

8. Oral 5: "An Animal That Seemed to Think" — without hurrying 32 
8 A. Dictionary Work 4 — marking the accent 34 

9. Sentence Work 4 — nouns 35 

Right Forms 3— do 36 

10. Written 1 : learning the forms for themes 36 

11. Written 2: a three-paragraph story 39 

11 A. Sentence Work 5 — finding verbs 41 

12. Spelling 3 — words like speak, shone, led, rough 41 

Sentence Work 6 — personal pronouns 42 

13. Written 3 : "When I Was in Trouble" — the three parts of a story 42 
Right Forms 4 — lie 44 

14. Sentence Work 7 — subjects of verbs 45 

15. Spelling 4 — some really hard words like sure and their 47 

Sentence Work 8— "Cotton at the Movies" '. 48 

16. Written 4: "A Pioneer" 49 

Right Forms 5 — sit 51 

17. Oral 6: "Improving a Treasure Island Composition" 52 

18. Sentence Work 9— "The Sea-serpent" and "Was It a Joke?" ... 53 

9 



10 CONTENTS 

Lesson Page 

19. Oral 7 — learning to do without and 54 

Spelling 5 — review 56 

19 A. Sentence Work 10 — "Jazz in the Menagerie" and "A 

Naval Battle on a Table" 56 

20. Sentence Work 11— verbs of two and three parts 57 

Spelling 6 — review 58 

20 A. Sentence Work 12— "How Indians Make Fire" 58 

Right Forms 6 — know 59 

21. Oral 8— "A Fable" 59 

22. Written 5 — writing out the legend 60 

23. Sentence Work 13 — prepositions 63 

24. Spelling 7 — adding s; two separate words 65 

Sentence Work 14 — beginning with prepositions 66 

25. Oral 9: "How I Made My First Money" — showing periods with 

the voice 66 

26. Written 6: "Hallowe'en" — beginning and ending promptly. ... 67 

27. Letters 1 — learning exactly the right forms 68 

Right Forms 7 — write 70 

28. Spelling 8 — putting similar forms together 70 

Sentence Work 15 — where the new sentence begins 71 

28 A. Sentence Work 16 — not beginning monotonously 72 

29. Letters 2: "When I Shall Arrive" 73 

30. Spelling 9 — putting similar forms together 73 

Sentence Work 17 — "The Hog and the Cocoanut" 74 

31. Letters 3 — to a person w^e don't know well 75 

32. Letters 4 — addresses and salutations 76 

32 A. Letters 5 — more addresses and salutations 77 

32 B. Letters 6 — drill with dates and addresses 77 

33. Written 7: "The Trouble That Seemed Big"— opening and clos- 

ing promptly 78 

Right Forms 8— eat 79 

Summary of Knowledge for Mid-year Promotion 80 

34. Sentence Work 18 — finding verbs 82 

35. Spelling 10 — putting similar forms together 83 

Sentence Work 19— "The Pup and the Game-cock" 84 

Right Forms 9— take 84 

36. Letters 7: "To a Friend Who Has Been 111" 85 

37. Letters 8 — paragraphing; giving careful directions 85 

37 A. Letters 9 — headings and signatures 86 

38. Sentence Work 20 — sentences with two verbs 86 

Spelling 1 1— ies • 87 

Right Forms 10—rlraw 88 



CONTENTS 11 

Lesson Page 

39. Oral 10: "A Conversation" . .' 88 

40. Sentence Work 21 — clauses that are not sentences 89 

41. Written 8: "The Live Words of Real People" 90 

41 A. Written 9: Said words 93 

41 B. Written 10: Synonyms 93 

42. Oral 11 : "The Interview with a Real Live Person" 93 

43. Sentence Work 22 — clauses that are not sentences 95 

Right Forms 11 — ought 97 

44. Letters 10 — the envelope 97 

45. Sentence Work 23 — "The Mountain Climb" and "The Medicine 

Man" 99 

Spelling 12 — singular possessive 99 

46. Letters 11 : "Plans for a Class Party" -, 101 

47. Punctuation 1 102 

48. Written 11 — direct quotations 103 

Right Forms 12 — give 105 

48 A. Sentence Work 24— "Dr. Heidegger's Study" and "Rip 

Helps the Stranger" 106 

49. Spelling 13— review 107 

Sentence Work 25 — verbs of three and four parts 107 

50. Oral 12: "Should We Have a Summer Term?" 108 

Spelling 14 — review 109 

50 A. Sentence Work 26— "The Power of Water" and "Lin- 

coln's Troubles with Spelling" 109 

51. Written 12 — paragraphing dialog 110 

51 A. Written 13: "The Center of the United States" 110 

52. Spelling 15 — dropping e 112 

Sentence Work 27 — the difference between sentences and clauses 113 

Right Forms 13 — ring 114 

53. Written 14: "A Moment of Life" 115 

Spelling 16 — review 115 

54. Spelling 17 — review 116 

Letters 12 — a friendly letter 116 

54 A. Written 15: "The Eagle and the Camera Man" . . . 116 

55. Written 16 — divided quotations 118 

55 A. Oral 13: "What I Used to Play" 120 

56. Written 17 — changing to direct quotations. 121 

Right Forms 14 — sing 122 

57. Spelling 18 — review 123 

Written 18: "My Pet" 123 

57 A. Sentence Work 28 — questions that are not sentences ... . 123 

5S. Spelling 19 — review 125 



12 CONTEXTS 

Lesson Page 

Letters 13: "Subscribing for a Magazine" 125 

Right Forms 15 — break 125 

58 A. Spelling 20 — review 126 

Sentence Work 29 — verbals that do not make sentences 126 

59. Oral 14: 'Two Birds Compared" 128 

59 A. Written 19: "The Bird Newspaper" 128 

59 B. Letters 14: "Which Kind of Skates?" 130 

60. Written 20 — changing to direct quotations 130 

60 A. Spelling 21 — review 131 

Sentence Work 30 — "zero groups," which are not sentences. . . . 131 

Right Forms 16 — come 133 

61. Spelling 22— review 134 

Oral 15: "Explaining a Task" 134 

62. Oral 16: "Old School or New School?" 134 

62 A. Written 21 — paragraphs of direct quotation 136 

63. Spelling 23— review 137 

Written 22: "How Did You Make It?" '. . . 137 

63 A. Oral 17: "A Trick" 138 

64. Letters 15: "Answering an Advertisement" 139 

Spelling 24 — review 139 

Right Forms 17 — throw 140 

64 A. Letters 16: "Inquiring About a Camp" 140 

65. Written 23: "The Atmosphere of a Place" 141 

66. Spelling 25— review 141 

Written 24: "My Town Fifty Years Ago" 141 

66 A. Oral 18: "The Smallest Church in the Country" 142 

66 B. Oral 19: "A Dialog" 144 

Oral 20: "A Toast" 145 

Summary of Knowledge for End-of-the-year Promotion 147 

PART TWO— EIGHTH YEAR 

67. Written 25: "It Happened to Me" 149 

68. Grammar 1 — nouns 150 

69. Written 26: "An Explanation" 151 

70. Spelling 26 — review; changing y to i 153 

Grammar 2 — subjects of verbs. 153 

71. Oral 21 : "How to Find a Place" 155 

Right Forms 18 — run 155 

72. Punctuation 2 — comma in series 156 

73. Spelling 27 — review; ies; ea words 157 

Grammar 3 — objects of prepositions 158 



CONTENTS 13 

Lesson Page 

74. Oral 22: "First Aid" 158 

75. Spelling 28— review 160 

Sentence Work 31 — "Four Miles in a Parachute" 160 

76. Written 27: "Improving Our Community" 161 

77. Spelling 29— review 161 

Grammar 4 — finding verbs 162 

77 A. Spelling 30 — a spelling-match 163 

77 B, Written 28: "Contriving Something Practical" 164 

7S. Spelling 31 — contractions 165 

Sentence Work 32 — "Barnum's Advertising" 166 

Right Forms 19— doesn't 167 

79. Spelling 32— review 168 

Grammar 5 — subjects of verbs 168 

80. Written 29: "An Embarrassing Moment" . 169 

80 A. Oral 23: "Just How It Is Done" 170 

81. Spelling 33— review 171 

Punctuation 3 — dates 171 

82. Spelling 34 — solid words; February, Wednesday 171 

Sentence Work 33 — "Lincoln at the Fair Grounds" 172 

83. Written 30: "Describing Your Book" 173 

Right Forms 20— bring 173 

84. Spelling 35 — some e words 174 

Grammar 6 — subjects of verbs 175 

85. Written 31 : "What My Friend Looks Like" 176 

85 A. Written 32: "As the Crowd Saw Them for a Minute" . . 178 

86. Spelling 36— review 179 

Sentence Work 34— "All Polite in Chicago" and "The Misfit 

Cub" 179 

87. Oral 24: "Our Family Is Proud of It" 180 

87 A. Spelling 37— a spelling-match 181 

87 B. Written 33: "Why Is She There?" 181 

88. Grammar 7 — demonstrative and indefinite pronouns 183 

88 A. Written 34: "From My Window" . 184 

89. Spelling 38 — doubling a final consonant 185 

Grammar 8 — singular verb with singular pronoun 185 

Right Forms 21 — his and their 186 

90. Written 35: "The Surprise at the End" . . 187 

91. Spelling 39 — review; two i words; ly 188 

Punctuation 4 — addresses 190 

Right Forms 22— drive 190 

91 A. Oral 25: "A Paragraph Using a Topic Sentence" 191 

92. Spelling 40— review 192 



14 CONTENTS 

Lesson Page 

Grammar 9 — two pronouns after a preposition", subjects of verbs 192 

93. Written 36: "What Sort of Person Lives Here?" 194 

94. Spelling 41 — review 195 

Punctuation 5 — review 195 

94 A. Oral 26: "A Home of Poverty" 195 

95. Grammar 10 — verbals that are not verbs. . 196 

96. Oral 27: "How to Perform a Feat" 198 

Right Forms 23 — drink 199 

97. Spelling 42 — review; ied; el; o'clock 200 

Punctuation 6 — appositives 200 

98. Letters 17 — how to place an order 201 

98 A. Letters 18 — how to apply for a position 202 

98 B. Letters 19 — how to answer an advertisement 205 

Summary of Knowledge for Mid-year Promotion 206 

98 C. Written 37: "An Account of the Armenian Star" 209 

99. Spelling 43 — the ie words; two e words 209 

Grammar 11 — predicate nominative 210 

Right Forms 24,-^ride 211 

100. Written 38: "Fireside in Winter" 211 

101. Spelling 44 — review; contractions, three hard words 212 

Punctuation 7 — review 213 

102. Grammar 12 — adjectives 213 

103. Written 39: "Odors and Memories" 215 

104. Spelling 45 — review; more ie words; four hard words 216 

Punctuation 8 — review 217 

104 A. Letters 20 — applying for an advertised position 217 

Right Forms 25 — isn't and hasn't 217 

105. Punctuation 9 — review 218 

106. Oral 28— a character sketch of an interesting person 219 

107. Spelling 46 — doubling the final consonant 220 

Punctuation 10 — review 220 

107 A. Oral 29 — a character sketch of a peculiar person 221 

108. Spelling 47 — changing y to i 221 

Grammar 13 — which part of speech? 223 

109. Oral 30: "A Battle" 224 

109 A. Written 40: "A Battle" 225 

110. Spelling 48— a words, etc 225 

Punctuation 11 — comma after an introductory clause 226 

Right Forms 26— grow 227 

110 A. Written 41— another battle 228 

111. Grammar 14 — kinds of adjectives 228 

111 A. Written 42— "As the Race Horse Felt It" 230 



CONTEXTS 15 

Lesson Page 

112. Dictionary 5 — defining the commonest objects 232 

113. Punctuation 12 — comma before but 233 

113 A. Dictionary 6 — defining some verbs 234 

Right Forms 27— tear 234 

113 B. Dictionary 7 — defining adjectives 235 

114. Spelling 49— review 235 

Punctuation 13 — punctuating so 235 

114 A. Oral 31 — explaining by an outline 236 

115. Dictionary 8 — avoiding is when and is where 237 

116. Spelling 50 — review; Jul; ying 238 

Grammar 15 — adverbs 239 

117. Oral 32: "How to Prove It" 240 

117 A. Oral 33: more proofs 242: 

118. Written 43— a ghost story 243 

119. Spelling 51 — review 245 

Punctuation 14 — comma with for 245 

120. Written 44: "A Scene in Egypt" 246 

120 A. Oral 34 — proving by observation 246 

Right Forms 28— begin 248 

121. Spelling 52— review 249 

Punctuation 15 — comma with and 249 

121 A. Punctuation 16 — undivided quotations 250 

121 B. Punctuation 17 — divided quotations of one sentence. . 251 

122. Oral 35 — proving by opinion or experience 251 

122 A. Punctuation 18 — divided quotations of two sentences . 254 
122 B. Punctuation 19 — setting off participle groups 255 

123. Spelling 53— review; e before ly 256 

Letters 21 — basketball series no. 1 257 

124. Spelling 54 — review; ed; athletics, article; address 257 

Grammar 16 — adverbs and adjectives 258 

Right Forms 29 — he, she, I, vs. him, her, me 260 

125. Spelling 55 — review; plural possessive; straight, course, corner. . 261 
Letters 22 — basketball series no. 2 262 

126. Spelling 56— review 263 

Grammar 17 — adverbs and prepositions 263 

127. Spelling 57 — review; the ei words 264 

Letters 23 — basketball series no. 3 , 265 

127 A. Grammar 18 — adverbs of degree 265 

128. Spelling 58 — review; the ai and dis words 267 

Letters 24 — basketball series no. 4 268 

129. Grammar 19 — phrases. as adjective and adverb 269 

130. Written 45 — persuading someone 270 



16 CONTENTS 

Lesson Page 

130 A. Oral 36: "Tents or Cottages?" 271 

131. Grammar 20 — objects of verbs 271 

131 A. Grammar 21 — indirect object 273 

131 B. Grammar 22 — adjective clauses 275 

131 C. 'Grammar 23 — adverb clauses 276 

131 D. Grammar 24 — noun clauses 278 

132. Oral 37: "Shall We Protect the Squirrels?" 279 

132 A. Oral 38: "The Trial of Mr. Sparrow" 282 

132 B. Oral 39 — an incident from the life of an author 284 

Spelling 59— review 284 

132 C. Oral 40— a debate 284 

132 D. Written 46 — a class book project 285 

X 133. Grammar 25 — who, which, and that 287 

X 134. Grammar 26 — relative clauses 288 

X 135. Grammar 27 — adjective clauses 289 

X 136. Grammar 28 — principal and subordinate clauses 290 

X 137. Grammar 29 — transitive verbs 292 

X 138. Grammar 30 — intransitive verbs 293 

X 139. Grammar 31 — more about verbs 294 

X 140. Grammar 32 — verbals as adjectives 295 

X 141. Grammar 33 — verbals as nouns 297 

X 142. Grammar 34— the to verbals . 298 

Summary of Knowledge for Promotion to the Ninth Year 300 

Appendix. Useful items of grammar supplementary to the material 

covered 302 

Index 317' 



PART ONE— SEVENTH YEAR 

LESSON 1 
Oral Composition 1 

The good story-teller is always popular. Everybody likes 
stories. Besides, story-telling, when one knows how to do it, 
is great fun for the speaker, as well as for the listener. Perhaps 
you think that because you have never been a great traveler 
and explorer, or a detective, you have nothing interesting to 
tell. If this is your opinion, you are mistaken, for some of the 
very best stories are about the common little incidents that 
happen to us at home. Every one of you has in his memory 
the material for many good stories. 

Do you know the story of Sir Launfal and his search for the 
Holy Grail? If you have read it, or if it has been read to you, 
you will remember that Sir Launfal, a proud young knight, 
in his vision, left his castle and set out to seek for the Grail. 
After traveling about the world for many weary years, he 
returned disappointed. Then close beside the castle that had 
once been his own, Sir Launfal found the wonderful Holy Grail, 
for which he had searched in vain so long. 

It is just so with material for stories. The things that hap- 
pen to you are much more interesting than you think. All that 
is necessary is for you to learn how to tell about them. 

This story was told by a seventh-year girl. A man who was 
very expert in shorthand took it down exactly as it was told. 
Head it aloud, and see how it sounds. Notice how the repeated 
and and so spoil it. 

My First Bicycle Ride 

This was when I was eight years old, and my brother Bruce was 
going to teach me how to ride his bicycle, so we went out in the road, 
and he told me to get on, and he would give the bicycle a push, and 
all I would need to do was to pedal, so I got on, and he gave me a 
push, and I flew down the hill, and the bicycle upset in dust about 

17 



18 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

six inches deep, and it hurt my foot and my arm, so I cried and cried, 
and the tears and dust made mud all over my face, and Bruce thought 
he had killed me, so he ran and hid in the raspberry bushes, and 
Mother couldn't find him for two hours. 

No doubt you can tell what is wrong with this story. The 
pupil made the incident seem real, but she spoiled her story 
because she had not learned to talk in sentences. If you look 
closely, you will see that the whole story is in one long, stringy 
sentence. You can find only one period. There should be at 
least ten of them. If the speaker had used simple sentences, 
without using and or so to connect her thoughts, where would 
the periods come? 

Many pupils have this bad habit of connecting sentences by 
and-uh, or well-uh,oT so. This habit will spoil any story, for the 
listeners get weary of hearing these useless sounds. Suppose 
that instead of putting in such a sound at the end of a sentence, 
you simply stop and think what you wish to say next. Then 
when you are ready, go ahead with the next sentence. The 
best cure for the habit of repeating and or well or so is the "rest- 
cure." Just put in a "rest period" at the end of each statement 
while you are getting ready to start the next one. Some pupils 
have been helped by taking a deep breath at the end of each 
sentence. Perhaps that treatment will help you. 

Here is another bicycle story. It was told by a seventh-year 
pupil, like the first one, but this pupil knew how to talk in 
sentences. Read this story aloud, noticing how much better- 
it sounds than the first one. What makes the difference? 



A Narrow Escape 

Last Thursday, as soon as school was out, I started to ride my wheel 
over to scout meeting. As usual, I rode across the park, which was 
crowded with pupils. I rode pretty fast, dodging among the people 
who were crossing the park on foot. When I came to the corner, 
I started across the street, forgetting to notice whether any cars 
were coming. I was almost in the middle of the street when I saw 
a big car, loaded with girls, coming very fast. They were so near 
when they saw me that they didn't know what to do. The girls gave 



TO ENGLISH 19 

little shrieks. The one who was driving put on the brakes, and the 
car skidded around against the curb, but nothing was broken. Two 
men standing on the corner said that I surely had a narrow escape. 

How many periods can you find in this little story? The notes 
of the shorthand writer showed plainly that this pupil divided 
his story into sentences, and put in the "rest periods," or short 
pauses, between them. He did not find it necessary to use 
and or so. 

Exercise. Tell a story about some accident or misfortune 
that almost happened to you. When you stand before the class 
to speak, look at your audience and talk directly to them. Do 
not let your eyes wander to the floor or the ceiling. Speak 
slowly and plainly, with a "rest period" at the end of each 
sentence. Do not join your statements by and or so. 



LESSON 2 
Oral Composition 2 



The story that follows was told in the right way. You will 
notice that it begins without wasting any words, and that it 
interests you at once. The pupil divided his story into short 
sentences. At the end of each sentence he pauseji long enough 
to plan the start of the next one. He used very few and's or 
so's. His teacher was proud of his work, and the man who took 
shorthand notes of the story was amazed at the excellence of 
the sentences. See if you think that the story was well planned 
and well told. It is given here exactly as it was told, except 
that it has been divided into three paragraphs to help the 
reader's eye. 

The Treasure Chest 

The barn was in flames when my brother and I arrived. The 
volunteer fire department was working hard to save the house, which 
was joined to the barn by a short shed. We stood around as boys 
will, watching the men fill the sprayers. All of a sudden the side of 
the barn caved in, and immediately the fire sprang up even higher. 
Suddenly it occurred to us that we might save something from the fire^ 



20 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Going inside the house, we found a little stairway leading down 
into the basement. This happened to be just where the fire was 
thickest. Looking down, we saw a large box standing on the floor 
in the middle of the cellar. The flames were fast creeping to it, and 
we were inspired to save this box. Immediately we decided that it 
might contain gold or some equally precious thing. Coming down the 
stairway, we reached the box, which we found quite heavy. Each of 
us took one of the handles, and we started back up the stairway again, 
getting our eyes burned and our hair singed. Then we got the box 
out into the yard. 

Immediately we were surrounded by a crowd of men who praised 
us. They seemed quite excited about the box. We watched while 
they opened it, anxious to see what was inside it. It was locked, 
but one of the men brought an ax and broke the lock. The lid was 
hastily torn open, and the treasure was revealed. What do you 
suppose was in the box? We were all interested to find out. We 
found it three-fourths full of Harding and Coolidge campaign buttons. 

Think about some of the experiences you have had. The 
incidents and adventures that you can remember will furnish 
material for many stories. Do any of these titles suggest inci- 
dents that have occurred to you? 



1. 


Splash ! 


11. 


The calf 


2. 


Out of gas 


12. 


The horse that misbehaved 


3. 


The big fish 


13. 


Mosquito troubles 


4. 


What a rain ! 


14. 


Too much like work 


5. 


Lost 


15. 


Cooking under difficulties 


6. 


The frog 


16. 


Our sleepless night 


7. 


Missing the train 


17. 


Some people's idea of fun 


8. 


Dad's surprise 


18. 


That unlucky snowball 


9. 


The bumblebee 


19. 


Such a day 



10. How mother was fooled 20. The results of a puncture 

Exercise. Choosing a subject suggested by one of these 
titles, or another that you like better, plan a true story to tell 
before the class. Let it be short. Eight or ten simple sentences, 
without and or so, will be long enough. Think about the first 
sentences, and plan them so that when you stand before the 
class you will plunge right into the action without wasting any 



TO ENGLISH 21 

words at the beginning. Make up your mind that you will 
speak so slowly and distinctly that all the people in the room 
can hear and understand every single word you say. Pause 
between sentences. 

The Right Forms 1* 

see — saw — have or has seen 

1. I see you. 

2. We saw him go. 

3. Have you seen any rabbits? 

4. He was seen there. 

5. I have seen him. 

6. The other boy saw him. 

7. The hill can be seen from here. 

8. Who saw the pencil? 

9. I saw it. 

10. Has anyone else seen it? 

11. Yes, we have seen it. 

12. Others may have seen it. 

13. He has not been seen since. 

14. He saw a woodchuck. 

15. Tracks have been seen there before. 

16. Have you seen any? 

17. I saw one yesterday.. 

18. Who else saw it? 

19. Frank saw it, too. 

20. He said he had seen a ghost. 

21. Do you think he saw one? 

22. He probably saw a white stump. 

23. I have often seen them. 

24. I never saw a ghost. 

*Tke Right Forms. Distributed through the book will be found exercises for oral training in 
the correct use of verbs and idioms. These should be frequently used during brief periods at 
the beginning or the end of recitations, until pupils get accustomed to hearing their own voices 
saying the right forms. Since the needs and the opportunities for such drills must vary with 
each class, it would be unwise to try to indicate in the text the exact points at which these drills 
should be utilized. 



22 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON 2 A* 
Oral Composition 3 

Look at the picture on page 23, which shows a little girl 
riding a huge and dangerous-looking alligator. Study this pic- 
ture very closely, trying to make up your mind whether it is 
a genuine photograph with a living alligator. Think about these 
questions : 

Are alligators dangerous to human beings? 

Does the child appear frightened or uneasy? 

What sort of apparatus seems to be fitted to the creature's head ? 

What is the curved object back of its eye? 

Does the position of the left fore-foot seem like a natural 
walking position? How about the right hind-foot? 

What other details can you find that influence your opinion? 

When you have made up your mind, prepare to give a short 
talk before the class in which you give your opinion and try to 
prove that you are right. Go over the talk to yourself . Remem- 
ber that you should speak in short, simple sentences, without 
hesitating or repeating, and without saying and or so between 
vour statements. 



LESSON 3 

Spelling 1 



There are thousands of ninth-year students who cannot spell 
too. They cannot write too much, too big, too small, too high. 
Many of them can spell long, hard words like expensive or ele- 
mentary, but they cannot spell too expensive or too elementary. 

There are tens of thousands of bright young Americans who 
cannot spell all right. They have no trouble at all with. aZZ 
wrong or all tired out or all excited. But some mysterious weak- 
ness makes them unable to remember that all is one word and 
right is another one — with a big open space between them. 

*Lessons marked "A" or "B" or "C" are not intended for use in all classes. Teachers whose 
time is limited, or who do not wish to plan their own course, should consult the Preface paragraph, 
"General Arrangement," before assigning any "A" or "B" lesson. 



TO ENGLISH 



23 




24 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

There is another marvelous word that a whole army of teach- 
ers fight for. It is separate. Look at the black a — sep a rate. 
One teacher says, "I keep it on the board with a big red A — 
sep A rate — till the pupils grow ashamed of the wrong letter.'* 
Every boy and girl should be ashamed if he has not mind enough 
or will-power enough to put two a's in sep A rate. 

Many pupils, when they hear about the mysterious power 
of a common word, think it is strange that other people don't 
learn to spell. Don't be a pupil of that kind. Whenever you 
study spelling lessons in this book, ask yourself, "Which words 
have I been misspelling? Which ones must / fight?" 

Are you one of the lucky persons who can always be correct 
in writing too and all right and separate? Of course you can 
write them in a spelling lesson, or whenever you put your mind 
on them. But how about always? When you are in a hurry, 
when you are thinking about "That Exciting Moment," when 
you are worrying about periods and paragraphs, do you always 
spell these words right? 

If not, you do not know how to spell them. Spelling is not a 
subject for part of a recitation. It is a matter of fixed habit, 
so that your pen always puts down the right letters when you 
are not thinking about them. 

If you never fail to put two a's in separate, do you ever fail 
to put two a's in grammar? Was there a time when you used 
to have a habit of putting some other letter in place of that 
second a? Such a habit dies hard. It may pretend to be dead 
for a month, or even a year; then it will come to life at the most 
unexpected time and cause a lot of embarrassment. 

sep A r A te 
gr A mm A r 

Stamp the picture of those a's in your mind. 

Speaking of a's, have you always put an a in meant? If there 
ever was a time when you did not, the old habit is probably 
still alive. Dig it out; stamp on it; kill it. No book can kill 
such a habit; no teacher can overcome it. It is your own battle. 



TO ENGLISH 25 

This lesson tells about only six words: too, all right, separate, 
grammar, meant. Study them in the following sentences. 

1. I meant to study last night, but I was too sleepy. 

2. I understood the separate lessons in grammar, but the review 
is too hard for me. 

3. The goods are all right, but the price is all wrong. 

If the teacher should have you write in class three sentences 
like those, and if you misspelled any one of the six words in the 
lesson, should your mark not be zero or F-minus? If you should 
misspell one of them in a composition next week or next month, 
should the teacher not give you a low mark for just that one 
error? It will be a serious mistake in future to misspell one of 
these six words. 



LESSON 4 

Sentence Work 1 



Read these sentences about "the midnight visitor." Notice 
the words with which the sentences begin. 

He arrived at the gate about midnight. He looked carefully all 
around the yard. It was empty. There was not a sound to be heard. 
Then he slowly and very quietly climbed over the gate. What was 
he going to do? 

Rewrite the following story of a grizzly bear, dividing it into 
sentences like those that you have just read. Sentences are 
very likely to begin with it or he or they or then or there. If any 
sentence is a question (like "What was he going to do?"), re- 
member to put a question mark after it. 

Two mountain lions had killed a horse they were having a fine meal 
then an old grizzly bear came along he stood up on his hind legs and 
snorted did he seem to be frightened he was not the least afraid he 
walked right up between the two lions one of them struck the old 
grizzly savagely with his claws it looked as if there were going to be 
a terrific fight nothing of the sort happened a swing of the grizzly's 
paw knocked one lion a hundred feet down the slope the other lion 
ran away then the bear enjoyed his meal in peace. 



26 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

We can guess fairly well when to begin a new sentence as long 
as the sentences in an exercise are short and easy and nearly 
alike. But guessing is of no use in school work. We must learn 
to know. 

The only way to know about sentences is to study verbs. A 
verb is a word that makes a statement.* 

1. It is ten o'clock. 

2. We have a new car. 

3. They ran for the train. 

4. The company never advertises in the newspapers. 

A verb may also ask a question. 

1. 7s it ten o'clock? 

2. Are you free now? 

3. Shall I? 

Learn the definition: A verb is a word that makes a state- 
ment or asks a question. 

A verb may be made up of two words. 

1. I have been in Chicago. 

2. Grandfather must stay at home. 

3. The foreman can discharge him for not working. 

Other examples of verbs containing two words are has begun , 
could see, might know, will change. Find all the verbs in the 
following sentences. 

1. Tom has worked eleven hours. 

2. You will find it on the top shelf. 

3. At last after a search in the basement he found the chair. 

4. All soldiers must obey instantly. 

5. In a sentence like that third one some of you might make a 

mistake. 

6. After a long, long struggle he finally broke the bad habit. 

7. Dr. Livingston introduced us to his mother. 

8. Perhaps in an hour or two you will think of a better plan. 

9. Neither Paul nor his uncle can go tomorrow. 

10. Every word of the lesson will come back to you some day. 

This is not a definition, but an approach to the subject of verbs. Even the definition, which 
comes later and which pupils are told to memorize, is a matter of minor importance. The defi- 
nitions in an elementary text are to be regarded as convenient teaching devices; if they are to be 
useful, they cannot always be scholastically complete. 



TO ENGLISH 27 

LESSON 5 

Sentence Work 2 

Study carefully the verbs in these next sentences. Notice 
that words may come between the two parts of a verb, as in 
*T could not very easily see." The verb is could see. 

Notice that such words as sure and able and often and not and 
up are not a part of the verb. No word like working or calling 
is, by itself, a verb, because it does not make a statement. No 
word like to see can be a verb, because it does not make a state- 
ment. 

1. I have never been able to tell. 

2. By working every Saturday afternoon you can earn a lot of 

money. 

3. Shall I give my seat to the lady? 

4. Did you hear him calling? 

5. Oscar had often wished to see Niagara Falls. 

6. The policeman had given up the chase. 

7. Who can 6e sure of reciting perfectly? 

Find all the verbs in the following sentences, being careful not 
to put in words that are not part of the verb, such as not, in, 
again, busy, of. Omit all words like laughing, being, to release, 
to be, which never can be verbs. Be sure to get the whole of a 
separated verb like "could hardly ever win." Some of the verbs 
have two words; some have only one. 

1. Early in the morning he went to release his prisoner. 

2. His cheerful laughing will soon make them happy. 

3. You had boldly taken your seat in the trolley. 

4. What have you learned in the last three lessons? 

5. Being a bell-boy in a hotel might not be a very good job. 

6. The whole world seemed to be one vast wheat-field. 

7. May Alexander and I come in? 

8. Has he ever had a mark for tardiness? 

9. The next morning Tom was again the first boy to wake up. 
10. A Rocky Mountain sheep, an old ram with horns fifty inches 

long, curling around in a circle, is the handsomest, proudest 
animal in the world. 



28 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

11. The members of the other party, in the meantime, were busy 

at the old fireplace, trying to kindle the damp wood. 

12. Can a man in a parachute breathe during the first part of his 

fall? 

13. I have never in my life heard of such a thing. 



LESSON 6 

Oral Composition 4 

Daniel Boone and the Indians 

When Daniel Boone lived in the backwoods of Kentucky, he had 
many narrow escapes from the Indians. Because of his knowledge 
of woodcraft and skill with the rifle, the savages feared and hated him. 
Several times he was captured, but each time he outwitted his enemies 
and escaped. 

One day he was working in a shed some distance from the block- 
house that sheltered the settlers. He was engaged in hanging up 
tobacco leaves to dry. As he worked away, two Indians crept up 
and took him by surprise. Although greatly amazed and startled, 
Boone went on with his work, coolly chatting with his deadly enemies. 
All the time he was using his wits, for one of the Indians had said, 
"We got you dis time. You no git away from us now!" 

As he talked and worked, Boone scraped up a double handful of 
dry tobacco dust. Then he suddenly straightened up and threw 
the dust squarely in the faces of his enemies. Blinded and tortured, 
the savages raged and howled, cursing and threatening vengeance 
as they ran against the walls and fell over the benches. While they 
were helpless, the frontiersman ran to the blockhouse and was safe. 

Look at the sentences in the story above. Notice how they 
begin. Very few of them begin with names or words like he or 
they. If you learn to start your sentences with' words like those 
used in this story, you wall get rid of a great many and's and so' s. 

Exercise. Tell a story about some heroic person in American 
history. You can easily find in a reader or book of historical 
stories some incident connected with the life of a brave person 
who has served his country. If you cannot find any material 
of this sort, tell the story of Daniel Boone and the Indians in 
your own words. Practice aloud before coming to class. Speak- 



TO ENGLISH 29 

ing cannot be learned without practice any more than skating, 
tennis, or drop-kicking. Try to begin some of your sentences 
with words like while, as, then, next, soon, after. 

The Right Forms 2 
go — went — have or has gone 

1. Let us go home. 

2. She went to town. 

3. Where has he gone? 

4. Why has he gone there? 

5. Fred had gone fishing. 

6. Who else had gone? 

7. I might have gone. 

8. Both boys may have gone. 

9. Have you ever gone fishing? 

10. They had gone very early. 

11. He has gone after the ball. 

12. Why haven't you gone along? 

13. I didn't know he had gone. 

14. Has anyone else gone? 

15. He has gone alone. 

16. Did you know he had gone? 



LESSON 6 A 
Dictionary 1 



We all must often turn to a dictionary to find out how a word 
is spelled or pronounced, or what its meaning is. It is easy 
enough to tell how to spell a word by looking at it, but you 
cannot tell how it ought to be pronounced unless you know the 
meaning of the little marks of pronunciation which the diction- 
aries use. If you are not already familiar with the most impor- 
tant of these marks, it will be well to learn what they mean, so 
that it will be easy for you to find out how words are pronounced. 



30 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

A a, fate : a, arm : a, fast : a, fall (fol) : a, am 

E e, even : e, fern (Mm) : e, end 

I I, pine : 1, ill : i, sir (sur) : i, machine (e) 

O o, old : 6, orb : o, odd : o, soft 

00 oo, moon : 06, good 

U ii, use : u, rule (oo) : u, pull (06) : u, up : 
u, urn : u, busy (biz'i) 

Y y, cry (I) : y, myth (i) 

C c, catch (k) 

TH th, this : th, thin 

Exercise. Mark in these words the letter which stands at 
the beginning of the line. Use a dictionary if you are not sure. 

A. all, ale, pardon, hall, hat, ate 

E. let, precede, bed, great 

I. whirl, gasoline, squire, hide 

O. over, prove, gallon, box: 00. root, shoot 

U. usual, under, burning, shut 

Y. mystery, lying, dye 

CH. cherry, chase, chorus, cholera, charade 

G. glitter, grade, gymnasium, age 

S. silly, miserable, lose, surmise, mistake 

TH. though, thumb, that, through, whether 



LESSON 6 B 

Dictionary 2 

Make a list of the following words, arranging them alpha- 
betically. Be sure that you get every word in its proper place. 
For example, children must come before chimney. 

machine because again athletics discovery 

kept grocery recognize recess every 
fellows drowned column government attacked 

peculiar history perspiration delivery Italian 

library geography generally jewelry children 

surprise poetry deaf doing barrel 

different hundred picture architect chimney 

umbrella gentlemen elm particular eleven 



TO ENGLISH 31 

LESSON 6 C 

Dictionary 3 

Look up the words in Lesson 6 B, or as many of them as your 
teacher directs. Copy the words, with the marks. Then prac- 
tice pronouncing them. Be sure to pronounce every syllable 
properly. 

LESSON 7 

Spelling 2 

Most pupils can spell any. If you put an m in front of any, 
you have many. If you add thing to any, you have anything. 

any many anything 

Do you know that there is a k at the beginning of know? 
Probably you do. Most pupils know about that k. But do you 
always use the k? Some persons who know about it fail to use: 
it. Study these three forms of know : 

I know it now. 

I knew it last year. 

I have known that all the time. 

Of course you can spell throw. The wrong form is seldom 
seen. But teachers frequently see misspellings of the other parts 
of the verb. Study the parts in the sentences below. 

I can throw the coat away now. 

He throws a curve ball. 

They threw mud at us. 

I could have thrown straightef than that. 

Don't feel too sure that you never make a mistake in writing 
throws or threw or thrown. Sometimes a good student, who 
pooh-poohs these easy words, misspells them in his next com- 
position. 



32 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Some pupils fail year after year to learn the spelling of per- 
haps. If you ever had trouble with that word, you will help 
yourself by putting it with others of the same form. Think of 
the "per" words — like perform, which many students cannot 
spell : person, perfect, perform, perhaps. People are often helped 
by a nonsense sentence: "Perhaps a perfect person could per- 
form better." 

Some pupils fail year after year to learn the spelling of three 
very common words. Notice the black letters in them. 

across among before 

"An acrobat jumped across the stage." "I walked along among 
the rocks." "I was never more sore before." 

Be ready to spell all these words of the lesson in sentences 
that the teacher gives you to write in class : 

knows, throws; knew, threw; known, thrown; perhaps, perform; 
across, among, before. 

Sentence Work 3 

Rewrite this paragraph about "a water fight," separating it 
into sentences. In this exercise there should be only one verb 
in each sentence. Underline each verb. 

Down in the gymnasium the boys refused to stop their wild sport 
water was splashed from the showers players chased each other with 
wet towels often they slipped on the wet floor many of them cut them- 
selves on the sharp corners of the stonework but who cared for cuts 
and bruises hadn't their team won the football game. 



LESSON 8 
Oral Composition 5 



Prepare to tell a story about an animal. You have observed 
the actions of some wild or tame creature many times. Often 
you have been almost sure that animals can think, for they do 



TO ENGLISH 33 

so many intelligent things. Try to avoid the use of words like 
and or so or well. Make up your mind that you are going to 
put a "rest period" after every sentence. Let these pauses be 
so plain that the pupils who are listening can always tell when 
you have come to the end of a sentence. When you have fin- 
ished one statement, just stop and wait calmly until the next 
thought is ready. No one will hurry you with your talk. Take 
all the time you need. 

Practice your story several times before you come to class. 
You cannot do good oral work without practicing. If you can- 
not get an opportunity to say it over aloud, go through it 
silently. m 

Perhaps the seventh-year story that follows will give you an 
idea of how to set to work with yours. 

The Squirrel's Trick 

One afternoon as I was going across the park, I stopped short to 
watch a squirrel. It seemed to be having lots of fun frisking and 
frolicking about. After a little while it ran up a tree and disappeared 
in the leaves. As I was starting to go on again, I noticed that the 
squirrel was coming down again. I waited to see what it would do 
next. 

As soon as it landed on the ground, it sat up and looked all around. 
After it was satisfied, it picked up something which it appeared to 
have dropped and started away. I thought that this looked like an 
acorn, but couldn't tell exactly. After the squirrel had run a few 
yards it stopped and started digging, as if to bury something. I 
could not see that it dropped anything in the hole. 

In a little while it had finished its job of digging the hole and filling 
it up again. It then ran away about its business. When I walked 
over to the spot, I found a little place where the grass was torn up, and 
the ground looked crumbled and loose. Picking up a twig, I started 
digging down with it. The earth came up very. easily, but no acorn 
was there. Just then I noticed a little hump under my hand, which 
was on the ground beside the hole. As I dug there Math my stick, 
I struck the acorn close to the surface. The squirrel had placed it 
in a little shallow tunnel to one side of the hole in which one would 
expect to find it. This was the trick which the little rascal had used 
to fool me. 



34 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON 8 A 

Dictionary 4 

When we pronounce a word of more than one syllable, we 
speak part of it with more force than the rest. For instance, 
when we say the word happen, we speak the first part with more 
force than the last part; that is, we "accent" the first syllable. 
When we say the word obey, we speak the second syllable with 
more force, or "accent" the second syllable. The dictionary 
shows which syllable to accent by putting a little mark after 
that syllable this way: hap 'pen. o-bey'. In a long word which 
has •more than one accented syllable, one of the syllables will 
have a heavy mark. Notice the word for'ti-fi-ea'tion, and pro- 
nounce it. The heavy mark is said to show the "primary 
accent," which is strong and important. The lighter mark 
shows only a slight, a "secondary accent." 

Exercise I. Place accent marks after the proper syllables in 
these familiar words. 

under, wisdom, master, beside, wireless, depend, always, distress. 
oblige, surely, complaining, providence, surrounding, forgetting, 
exercise, overalls, debating 

Exercise II. Copy from the dictionary the words that follow, 
putting in the accent marks. Then practice pronouncing the 
words you have marked. 

congratulation, sesame, superintendent, accidentally, accommo- 
date, embarrassment, involuntary, supervisor, supplementary, 
inspirational, compassionately 

Exercise III. Copy these words from the dictionary, putting 
in all the marks that you find. Then practice pronouncing 
them. It may be well for you to review Lesson 6 A. 

competition, outrageously, litheness. hypocritical, fragmentary. 
designedly, corporation, adaptability, acceptability, universal, 

constitutional, inconsiderable 



TO ENGLISH 35 



LESSON 9 

Sentence Work 4 

A noun is a word used as a name. In the account of the water 
fight, page 32, the nouns are gymnasium, boys, sport, water, 
showers, players, towels, floor, corners, stonework, cuts, bruises, 
team, game. These are called "common nouns." 

The name of a person or place or time, written with a capital 
letter, is called a "proper noun." Examples are Henry, Lincoln, 
Italy, July, Monday. Animals or trains or ships may have their 
own names, which are proper nouns: Fido, Old Bob, Broadway 
Limited, Campania. 

Select all the nouns in the sentences below. In each sentence 
there are three nouns. Common nouns often have a or an or 
the in front of them. It always sounds natural to put a or an 
or the in front of them: a large gymnasium, an older brother, 
the wet towels, sl bruise. 

1. A large dish full of bananas stood on the table. 

2. The noise was made by the spring in the mouse-trap. 

3. After a few minutes I put my gloves into my pocket. 

4. The glare from the blazing roof lighted up every corner. 

5. Our trip on the canal lasted six days. 

6. The platform of the station was crowded with a frantic mob. 

7. There are still some buffalos on an island in Salt Lake. 

8. In her childhood she had heard the name of this magician. 

9. Renny drove a terrific liner over my head. 

10. Any boy can go to school in America. 

11. In April the water was full of floating ice. 

12. The next morning the boy slipped quietly out of the house. 

13. He could see nothing but a blur through the big telescope. 

14. Under the next tree were more tracks of rabbits. 

15. The inside of the house was more pleasant than the dirty porch. 

16. Take a drink of water before breakfast. 

17. In just two days the boys completed their radio outfit. 

18. The hour for the game arrived — but where was Tony? 

19. In the distance we saw the top of the high mountain. 

20. George likes to sail his new boat on the lake. 



36 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

The Right Forms 3 

do — did — have or has done 

1. What will you do? 

2. We did our best. 

3. Who has done this? 

4. I didn't do it. 

5. She didn't do it. 

6. He hasn't done it. 

7. He did more than I did. 

8. This has been done before. 

9. By whom was it done? 

10. She doesn't know. 

11. He doesn't answer. 

12. Why doesn't he come? 

13. It doesn't look hard. 

14. Your dress doesn't fit. 

15. Are you sure it doesn't? 

16. What have you done? 

17. I did all I could do. 

18. W r ho did any more? 

19. Nobody did any more. 

20. It doesn't matter. 



LESSON 10 
Written Composition 1 

In a sense it is easier to write well than it is to speak well, 
for the writer can sit down in a quiet place and think out what 
he wants to say. He can write his composition a second time if 
necessary, and make it better. He can make his work practi- 
cally perfect before he hands it in. 

But the writer has certain things to watch that do not trouble 
the speaker. Of course, he must write plainly and neatly, for 



TO ENGLISH 37 



\ 
(Uy^LArJL^jJLU Iaju Ou LcfcUuL^ iuAAyyUjiJfu^xJ . 

3t OjAjLA^r autr tiX^ur^ tJu^out tJUju cAJUju-u 
Ju^^^lJ^-a^la; houu^^-^ cut it , Ca<yu\J^<Kjx^ - 

qJJju^ oJLSU . -LoX c£ i^T^ m^ w>iX^. ;; 
WOClv^ ^L^a^ vu<Auu , it, b*uULs*U /uJduL^ oJUL 

fcMJL (Ljt l u^ULulJL<L, aaj^XJU-s ituwu LauXAXjL* (LAn*j . 
l^r^rvu Cut tXuoJ^ totXJjL ^fUA^n^J^i^^u f C^uJuL 

Vlmla^ o-vut >Ovw tXxJL jUlXcL i^jLruL-. . WJ '. 
AjQyyut ^t CU ^ixLjuCt^f , ^aJuUJLhu I U (TVxJj 
ruirvu juluuvdfa it Lo-o^k^u Jl<AU- Ou i^aJJL 0-£ 
a^rUU ? List tMjuUL kAj-<rxxtxu en 'iuucuuoJL u^JL 



38 



THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 



lOct.S , if%t 



0-UiMJbL 



no one should be satisfied to hand in a composition that is not 
as nearly perfect in appearance as he can make it. Besides, 
the writer must take care that he has spelled all the words in 
his composition correctly. Then he must look over his punctua- 
tion, to make sure that he has not used a 
comma where a period belongs. 

It is necessary to prepare written com- 
positions in a certain form, so that they 
will always be the same. Study these di- 
rections very carefully, for you will be 
expected to make every composition exactly 
right in form. 

1. The title of a composition is written 
on the first line, not up at the top of the 
page. 

2. One line is left blank below the title. 

3. You must not write on the margin at 
the left of the page. Your teacher needs 
this space for corrections and remarks. 

4. The first line of each paragraph must 
be "indented," or set in an inch or more. 
You can see that the paragraphs in this 

book are "indented," though not so deeply as you will indent 
in your compositions. 

5. Do not crowd the words together. Crowding spoils the 
looks of a page, and makes your work hard to read. Move 
your hand along and separate the words. 

6. Pages must be numbered if you have more than one, and 
they must be in the right order. 

7. It is a good plan to write the "indorsement" on the outside 
of a folded composition on the same side that the title of a book 
is on. Pick up a book or a magazine and look at the outside of 
it. Which side bears the name? Indorse a composition in the 
same way. 

Exercise. It has been said that many seventh-year pupils 
cannot read a simple set of directions and then follow them 



TO ENGLISH 39 

exactly right. Can you? Copy the first two paragraphs of 
"The Squirrel's Trick" on theme-paper. Follow exactly the 
directions given above or those which your teacher gives you. 
Then fold and indorse the paper as shown in the model on page 
38. Make your writing as neat and pleasant to look at as you 
can. Be sure to leave spaces between the words. 



LESSON 11 

Written Composition 2 

We have been reading and telling stories. Now we are to 
write one. We want to make it so interesting that when it is 
read aloud, every person in the room will strain his ears to catch 
every word. How shall we go to work? 

What kind of book do you like best? You answer, "I like 
the kind that shows me right at the start that some interesting 
things are going to happen." W T e want the stories we write to 
begin in such a way that when we begin to read them aloud, 
our classmates will prick up their ears and say, "Here comes 
something that is worth staying awake for. I don't want to 
miss a word of it." 

On page 20 are several titles intended to suggest experiences 
which you have had. Looking at this list again, think of a good 
subject for a written story. It should be true, and it should 
have some action in it that will make it worth reading or listen- 
ing to. Probably you will decide to write your story in about 
three short paragraphs. It is likely that the first paragraph 
will tell who the persons are and what situation they are in. 
That is, at the start we want our readers to know what this 
story is going to be about. Perhaps the second paragraph will 
carry the story almost to the most interesting part. The last 
paragraph will give the most interesting part, and then bring 
the story quickly to a close. 



40 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Turn back to the story about Daniel Boone and the Indians 
on page 28. You will notice that the three paragraphs do just 
what we have described. The first tells exactly who is to be in 
the story and how he is situated — "Daniel Boone .... the 
savages feared and hated him .... several times he was 
captured." It shows us, too, that things are going to happen 
very soon. The second paragraph brings us to the most 
exciting part of the story — "You no git away from us now." 
The third tells the most exciting part and then ends at once — 
"ran to the blockhouse and was safe." 

Of course all stories do not have just three paragraphs. Some 
have many more. But such little incidents as we are to write 
about usually work out best in three parts. 

When you have decided on your subject, turn to page 38 
and read once more the instructions about the form of the com- 
position. Unless you do this, you are almost sure to make a 
mistake. 

Have you read the directions carefully? If you were a 
tea,cher, what grade would you give a pupil who would now write 
his composition with the title up at the top edge of the page, 
or write on the space at the left edge of the page? Would you 
accept a composition in which the words were crowded together 
or which was indorsed on the wrong side? 

Now that you are ready, take pen and paper and set to work. 
The only way to learn to swim is to go into the water. The 
only way to learn to write a story is to go to work and do it. 
And don t forget to move your hand along as you write and 

JUXWC <frWtL JU^AJ oM^XJiAJ llfcus4Vru tXjL JUSO*u<Lu '. 

Do not be satisfied with a composition that is not your best. 
Look your work over carefully, to see if a word has been mis- 
spelled or a comma used instead of a period. Never hand in a 
composition until you have made it the best advertisement of 
YOU that it can be made. 



TO ENGLISH 41 



LESSON 11 A 



Sentence Work 5 

Find every verb in the twenty sentences of Lesson 9. Be 
specially careful not to put with the verb such words as on, by, 
up, with, still, to. No word like full or glad or more or eager can 
be part of a verb. In the sentence "The boy was glad to go," 
the verb is simply ivas. The words glad and to go are not parts 
of the verb. 



LESSON 12 



Spelling 3 

Some intelligent pupils are unable to spell hare in combina- 
tions like this: "You ought to have told me." "I should have 
known better." "We might have seen him." They never miss 
have in a separate lesson — oh, no. They miss it when they write 
compositions. 

Can you spell told? Probably you can. But how about 
speak? Think of the words in pairs. 

He told an old story. 

Don't speak in a weak voice. 

Do you know the verb ride? Of course you do. But do you 
always spell rode correctly? Think of the "i and o" verbs to- 
gether. 

ride rode drive drove shine shone 

Do you know the queer verb form led? You must think cf it 
with others of the same kind. 

We fed the elephants. 
His nose bled. 
The guide led us. 



42 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Think of "fed, bled, led." Always try to think of similar 
forms together. If you were ever confused about rough how 
could you be sure of learning it? You could find some other 
"ough" word — a similar form — to put with it. 
Is this rough enough for you? 

Now review the words of this lesson. Think of spelling 
every one in a sentence that the teacher will give to be written 
in class. 

could have told; speak, weak; ride and rode, drive and drove, 
shine and shone; led, fed, bled; rough, enough 

Sentence Work 6 

A pronoun is a word that stands in place of a noun. A person 
who is speaking uses / and my and mine in place of his own 
name. In place of the names of all the persons in our class or 
our family we say we or our or us. We use they in place of 
names of persons that we have been talking about. Instead of 
saying "Ben took Ben's lunch" we say "Ben took his lunch." 
We use it for something that has been named, like a house or a 
pin or a cushion. 

Find all the pronouns of this kind in the Exercises for Lesson 
5, page 27, and Lesson 9, page 35. 



LESSON 13 

Written Composition 3 
Study the portion of a story that comes next, the first para- 
graph of which is very poor. See if you can tell what is wrong- 
as you read. 

One morning last July we decided to take a trip up to Rossburg. 
We packed our baskets with lunch, dug some worms, and hunted 
up our fishing-tackle. It took us quite a while to get readv to start, 
tor we wanted to be sure to take everything needed for a dav of fun 
finally, about nine o'clock, everything was readv, and we started out 



TO ENGLISH 43 

As we went along, we were enjoying the fresh morning air and think- 
ing that we had left all our troubles behind. My father was sitting 
in the stern of the boat, and my brother Roy and I were rowing. 
When we got almost around the big bend three miles above town, 
Tige put his paws up on the side of the boat and commenced to whine. 
Then my father said, "What on earth is that thing floating there 
by the bank?" 

It is easy to see that this story begins in the wrong way. Very 
little in the first paragraph is worth reading. Nobody cares 
about the preparations for a trip, the digging of worms, or the 
packing of lunches. Worse than this is the fact that the first 
paragraph fails to tell us w T ho is going or how the party is to 
travel. No one can get a picture of "we." You cannot tell 
whether "we" means a dozen girls, or four boys, or a boy and 
his parents. Then -when you read "we started out," you have 
no idea of how "we" were traveling. Probably you thought 
that the party w T as riding in an automobile until suddenly, in 
the second paragraph, you found that "we" were row T ing in a 
boat. Soon you learned just as suddenly that there were three 
persons in the party. In the next sentence you were told that 
Tige — no doubt a dog of some description — was also in the 
boat, and you had to change the picture that had been formed 
in your mind. Not until the last sentence of the second para- 
graph do you get the situation in mind and strike something 
that promises to be interesting. 

Of course, this is the wrong w T ay for a story to begin. The 
first paragraph should tell who the people are and what the 
situation is. It should also catch the reader's interest at once 
by showing him that there is going to be some action or some 
interesting information. 

Did you ever get into trouble? Did it seem pretty serious 
at the time? Perhaps you w^ere a little child then, and the affair 
w T ould seem only a laughing matter now. But if it seemed 
important at the time, that is enough. Write a story about 
it. Make three paragraphs. Let the first show us the persons 
and the situation in which they are, and also give a hint of 
action to come. In the second paragraph, build up the story. 



44 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

In the third tell how it came out. Don't forget what you have 
learned about the form in which a composition must be written. 
It may be wise, just to be on the safe side, to review pages 36 
and 38 before starting to write. 

The Right Forms 4 

lie — lay — have or has lain 

1. He lies on the ground. 

2. He lay there too long. 

3. The book lies on the table. 

4. It lay there this morning. 

5. Was it lying there yesterday? 

6. It has lain there for a week. 

7. He lay in bed too long. 

8. He lay on the sofa. 

9. Snow has lain on the ground since November. 

10. His coat was lying on the bank. 

11. He lay down on the log. 

12. The tree lies where it fell. 

13. It has lain there for years. 

14. You can see it lying there. 

15. He lay in bed half the day. 

16. I couldn't have lain there so long. 

17. The garden-hose lies on the grass. 

18. The dog is lying in the sun. 

19. Will he he there after dark? 

20. I can't lie. on my back. 

21. He has been lying in the hammock. 

22. I hope it will not lie there much longer. 

23. It certainly is not lying straight. 

24. The patient lies down two hours each day. 

25. Is he lying down now? 

26. There in plain sight lay the lost purse. 

27. The injured passengers lay under the wreckage. 

28. How long did they lie there? 



TO ENGLISH 45 

LESSON 14 

Sentence Work 7 
Finding the Subjects of Verbs. 

a. Ask "Who or What?" Find the verb in the following 
sentence : 

The poor little fellow had fallen asleep on the steps. 

Ask yourself, "Who or what had fallen?" The answer is 
"fellow." We call fellow the "subject" of had fallen. 

Find the verb in the sentence below, and ask yourself, "Who 
or what?" 

He almost always keeps an eye on the clock. 

The answer is "he." We say that he is the subject of keeps. 

Any noun or pronoun that answers the "Who or what?" 
question about a verb is called the subject of the verb. Find 
the verb in each of these next sentences, and ask "Who or 
what?" Prepare to recite in this way: "The verb is keeps. 
Who or what keeps? He keeps. He is the subject of keeps." 

1. The herd disappeared into the bushes. 

2. The two young men were good sons to their old father. 

3. We often spoke of the good times of that jolly winter. 

4. These sentences, of course, are very easy. 

5. The picture at the Garden last night was very comical. 

b. Get the right noun or pronoun. Often some noun or 
pronoun comes between the subject and the verb. 

The odor of the flowers was very sweet. 

"Who or what was?" The odor was. Odor is the subject of 
was. 

Find the subjects of the verbs in the next two sentences. 

1. A girl with good sense would not act that way. 

2. The number of people in the car was growing smaller. 



46 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

"Who or what would not act?" A girl. "Who or what was 
growing?" Surely the car was not growing smaller. Surely 
the people were not growing smaller. The number was growing- 
smaller. Number is the subject. When you are hunting for 
subjects, always take pains to see that you get a sensible answer. 
. c. In questions. The subject may come between the two 
parts of a verb. 

Have you ever seen such a sunset? 

The verb is have seen. "Who or what have seen?" The answer 
is you. You is the subject. 



What have they put into the box? 

The verb is have put. It is not sensible to say that "ivhat have 
put." The sensible answer is they. The sentence means "They 
have put what into the box?" The subject is they. 

d. When the verb comes first. The subject often comes 
after the verb. 

Down from the heavy cloud eaine the rain. 

The verb is came. Who or what came? Surely the cloud did 
not come down. The sentence means that the rain came down 
from the cloud. The subject is rain. 

Here are two more sentences in which the subjects come after 
the verbs. 

1. Across the street from us was a big fire. 

2. Out of the window hung a green flag. 

The fire was. The flag hung. The subjects are fire and flag. 
It would not be sensible to say that "us was" or "window hung." 

When you are hunting for subjects, always ask "Who or 
what?" and always be sure to get an answer that makes good 
sense. 

Find the verb and its subject in each of the sentences on the 
top of the next page. 



TO ENGLISH 47 

1. Between the church and the grocery store grew a huge rubber- 

tree. 

2. A bottle of olives is a good thing for a picnic. [We could not 

say * 'olives is." What is?] 

3. Where have you put the ammonia? 

4. Out of the cave came an ugly growl. 

5. The top of the can was loose. 

6. W 7 here in the world can my hat be? 

7. Above the top of the breaker stuck the fin of a great shark. 

8. The amount of this reckless fellow's debts was about $10,000. 

9. Many a farmer in those times worked sixteen hours a day. 
10. Into the quiet schoolroom flew an enraged, noisy bumblebee. 



LESSON 15 

Spelling 4 



The strange thing about spelling is that the hard words are 
not hard. You probably can spell, or can learn at once, such 
words as exhausted, captured, haughty, purchased. You are more 
likely to have trouble with short, common words like whose and 
sure and toward. 

Whose book is this? 
Are you sure you know? 
I walked toward the gate. 

Isn't it strange that the short, plain, common w T ords make 
nearly all the trouble? There is the word separate, for example. 
Think of how many hundred times every pupil has seen the 
word in print, with two a's. Perhaps he has never seen the 
wrong form printed. And yet many pupils make it up, write it 
down, and never notice the difference. Everyone in your class 
has seen grammar, with two a's, a thousand times in his books 
and on the blackboard; yet some of your classmates may 
misspell it next w 7 eek, and next month, and next year. 

Why do brains manufacture a wrong letter? It almost seems 
as if some brains never saw anything in print, but just dreamed 



48 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

about letters. Brains seem to have nightmares of e or one / or 
a double/. Then they think their dreams are true. Then they 
make the hands write the dreams on paper. Thus a wrong 
habit is formed. It is the powerful, old, deep-rooted habit that 
we have to fight. 

Now think again about the three words ivhose, sure, toward. 
Did your mind ever make up a wrong form for one of these? 
Was there ever a time when you had a wrong habit with one 
of them? Perhaps there was not. Many pupils can always 
write those three correctly. 

What about the black letters in the following sentences? 
Aren't there two or three bad habits of yours in this assortment? 

There was once an old woman who lived in this shanty. 

We waited until the crowd had passed. 

Everyone does it. 

Some people have better sense. 

On the level stretch they let their car out. 

The study of the words in this lesson is a longer and harder 
task than you imagine. Try to see each one with your eyes 
held wide open. See the five letters of whose, the s and the u 
and the r and the e of sure, the tow of toward. Stare at the a in 
woman and think of "man and woman." There is only one I 
at the end of until. Does is like goes and hoes. Sense has two 
s's, and stretch has two fs. If you take they, change the y to i, 
and add r, you have th ei r. 

Sentence Work 8 

Rewrite the following paragraph, dividing into sentences. 
Be sure that there is only one verb, with one subject, in each 
sentence. Remember that words like to begin and gathering are 
not verbs. 

I reached the theater about twenty minutes before the time for 
the pictures to begin already it was packed only five empty seats 
remained in the back row I slipped into one of these in less than a 
minute the other seats were taken still the people kept coming the 



TO ENGLISH 49 

first picture was of a cotton field and the pickers gathering cotton 
we were then taken through a factory all kinds of prints, muslins, 
and ginghams were made here then came a so-called funny picture 
a very bad boy was continually getting into danger his wonderful 
escapes held us quite spellbound then came the play. 



LESSON 16 

Written Composition 4 

The story that follows was told by an old settler named 
George Samson. His language has been changed a little and 
his sentences made better, for he was not an educated man. 
He never had a chance to go to school except for a few weeks 
in the winter w r hen he w r as not needed on the farm. In all, he 
did not have more than tw r o years of schooling in his life. Yet 
the story as you are to read it is very little different from the 
story as he told it. 

Waiting for a Panther 

During the fall of 1880, when I was sixteen years old, the report 
passed about the neighborhood that a panther was haunting the woods 
of the county. Nobody had seen it, but a hunter had found its huge 
footprints, and several farmers living near the timber said that they 
had heard its wailing cry in the night. Of course we boys boasted 
that we were not afraid, and we planned to take our dogs and guns 
in search of the beast. But the autumn farm work kept us too busy 
for a hunt. 

One night after supper I started to walk to the village grocery store, 
which was nearly two miles down the road from our farm. Though 
the moon glimmered faintly behind the clouds, the tree-shaded road 
was pretty dark. I was hurrying along, and had just entered a strip 
of road that was more densely shaded by woods than the rest, when 
I chanced to glance back. As I did so, I saw something following 
my footsteps down the road! 

Instantly I remembered the panther. I had no gun, and the village 
was at least half a mile away. Realizing that I could not escape by 



50 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

running, I drew and opened my pocket-knife, and stood rooted to 
the spot in a cold agony of dread. The creature, which appeared 
to be about as tall as a good-sized dog, stopped about twenty yards 
from me, and crouched flat in the road. Then it began slowly to 
creep nearer. I tried to shout, but only a sort of grunt came from 
my throat. Gripping my little knife, I stood and waited, desperately 
afraid. 

Flattened close to the ground, the beast crept nearer. Suddenly 
it stopped, and seemed to gather itself for a spring. I shut my teeth 
together, raised my little weapon, and prepared to sell my life as 
dearly as possible. Then, with a leap and a bound, it was upon me, 
with its mouth right in my face — my pet shepherd dog, Major! 

This story has a good first paragraph. It tells all that you 
need to know of "what this story is going to be about." It also 
interests you at the start, for the very first sentence makes it 
plain that something thrilling is going to happen. The very 
word "panther" almost makes us catch our breath, and we are 
anxious to read the rest and see what follows. 

The second and third paragraphs build the story rapidly up 
to the most exciting place. Have you noticed how the reader's 
interest rises higher and higher with each sentence? And this 
rising interest continues almost to the last word of the last 
paragraph. You can imagine how the two boys who listened 
while the old man told his tale held their breath as he approached 
the end, and what a gasp of astonishment and relief they gave 
when he spoke the last words. 

This story follows exactly the plan explained on page 39, 
except that it has four paragraphs instead of three. Your own 
stories will usually be a little shorter, and you will do well for 
the present to hold to the three-paragraph plan. You can work 
for a good beginning, with the persons and situation plainly 
given, and a promise that things are going to happen. You can 
build up the interest in the second and third. In the third, too, 
you can bring in the "climax," or most important point, and 
then stop. There is no need to go on after that. Nobody cares 
whether George Samson went on to the store and bought fifty 
cents w r orth of sugar and a bone for his dog. 



TO ENGLISH 51 

Do you know a true story cf pioneer days? Have you ever 
been told of an incident that happened to your grandfather, 
your uncle, or your father? Or, if your parents came to America 
from Europe, can you remember a story that one of them has 
told you about happenings in the old home across the sea? 

Think of such a story. It may not be as exciting as the 
panther story. It may be funny instead, or it may be sad. No 
matter which of these kinds it is, plan it out carefully and then 
write it in your own words. Take pains with your sentences 
and paragraphs. Then, when you are through, check up to 
make sure that you have not misspelled any of the words that 
have appeared in your spelling lessons. 

The Right Forms 5 
sit — sat — have or has sat 

1. Sit down on this log. 

2. They sat at a table. 

3. She is sitting in a chair. 

4. The dog sits by the tree. 

5. Don't sit on the ground. 

6. It is too damp to sit on. 

7. We were sitting in the shade. 

8. I have sat here two hours. 

9. Will you sit near the door? 

10. I have often sat there. 

11. He sat up in bed. 

12. I have been sitting down all morning. 

13. Sitting is easier than standing. 

14. She sat down to rest. 

15. She might have sat in the car. 

16. Were they sitting by the fire? 

17. He sat on a stump to wait. 

18. He is sitting there yet. 

19. I have often sat under that tree. 

20. Do you enjoy sitting there? 



52 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON 17 

Oral Composition 6 

Probably almost every one in the class has read some story 
of pirates and buried treasure. No doubt most of you could 
tell some part of the thrilling tale. Could you tell about finding 
a mysterious chart? Could you tell about a battle or a mutiny 
or discovering a chest? Perhaps most of you could relate some 
incident of adventure from the story. But could you make a 
good job of it? Would people listen with keen interest and 
pleasure, or would they be shocked by the badness of your 
sentences, by incorrect grammar, or by repeated and's and so's? 

This is the way a seventh-year boy tried to tell the story of 
Silver's treasure-hunt in Treasure Island. It is plain to be seen 
that this boy knew nothing about rest periods between sen- 
tences. How do you like the result as the record of the short- 
hand-writer shows it? Find out how it sounds by reading it 
aloud. 

One morning Silver and his men started out to hunt for the treasure. 
They were all armed to the teeth, and Silver he had two or three 
cutlasses, and had muskets hung over his shoulder, and had double- 
barreled pistols. Well — uh — they — they — er — Jim had a rope tied 
around his waist, and Silver held the other end in his hand, and they 
was going up a steep hill, and one of the men gave a cry, and they all 
thought he had found the treasure, and started to run to where he 
was, but there was a skeleton. The skeleton was just as straight 
as he could be, and his hands was up behind his head just as straight 
as they could be, and they knew that he was an old sailor, because 
they found a piece of old sailor-cloth, and as they was going up the 
hill they heard a cry upon the peak, so it said, "Fifteen men on a 
dead man's chest. Ho, ho, and a bottle of rum." It startled the 
men, and they wanted to go back, but Silver said he wanted them to go 
on, and so they went on, and when they got to where the treasure w T as 
buried they looked around there, and finally found one piece of money, 
and passed that around to one another, and — uh — uh — they — uh — uh 
couldn't find any more, and finally they found out that Ben Gunn 
had took this treasure and put it in a cave on the side of this hill 
with two tops. 



TO ENGLISH 53 

"Pretty bad," do you say? How much better can you do 
than this boy did? Suppose you read a chapter of a novel of 
adventure and then tell the story of it yourself. Remember! 
short, complete sentences, and rest periods between sentences 
— no and-uh's or so's. We want better grammar than this boy 
used, too. 



LESSON 18 

Sentence Work 9 
Separate the following paragraphs into sentences: 



One sunny day I was walking along the shore of the Pacific Ocean 
in southern California I was on a railroad running along the face of 
a high cliff the track was fifty feet above the beach thus I had a clear 
view out over many miles of the blue sea about a mile from shore 
was a broad belt of brown kelp something at the inner edge of the 
kelp caught my eye it was a black object about six feet high moving 
rather rapidly have you ever seen a snake swimming in a pond its 
head swings with a quick swaying motion this animal looked like 
that it seemed smooth and shiny what could it have been could it 
have been the head of a seal it rose too high for that could it possibly 
have been a pelican or a shark I had plenty of time to watch its motions 
closely in the clear air it was absolutely unlike anything but the 
neck of a big snake I have never had any faith in the idea of a sea- 
serpent what could that animal have been 

II 

My Uncle Henry is a great joker still he is sometimes serious he 
likes to worry people by asking them hard questions here is one of 
them in the form of a story 

"I saw a queer sight last Saturday the three days of rain had 
made all the country roads muddy and very soft on the right-hand 
road running north from Scovills' one stretch three rods long was a 
perfect bog here a heavy touring-car was stuck fast the man was 
starting out to hire horses at a farm then his wife called him back 
she was all excited about a big coil of heavy rope in the back of the 
car at first the husband laughed at her but pretty soon he saw the 



54 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

point lie tied one end of the rope to the front axle next he fastened 
a pulley-block to a tree about fifty feet ahead of the car then he carried 
the rope out through the pulley and back to the car" 

Uncle Henry won't go on with the story could a car pull itself 
out of the mud this way did the man have a wrong idea it is too much 
for me 



LESSON 19 

Oral Composition 7 
Poor And! 



And is a good and useful little word. It is a shame the way 
some pupils abuse him and try to work him to death. They 
don't mean to be cruel. They simply have the bad habit that 
was mentioned on page 18, and don't know how to help them- 
selves. We have now found out that we can help ourselves to 
overcome this habit by putting in a rest period after we have 
finished a statement, and while we are getting ready to begin 
another. Some of us, too, may have found it necessary to prac- 
tice deep breathing. 

But besides this abuse of and by using him to hook sentences 
together when they ought to be left apart, many young people 
use him to do all kinds of work inside sentences, work which 
he was never intended to do at all. There are plenty of other 
words ready and willing to do their share of the work. They 
can often perform a certain task much better than poor over- 
worked and can do it. One of these willing words is though. 
Notice the difference. 

1. I was afraid to leave Margaret alone, and I knew that I ought 

to get the doctor. 

2. Though I was afraid to leave Margaret alone, I knew that I 

ought to get the doctor. 

In this second sentence, w r e not only give poor little and a rest, 
but we also use a w T ord that expresses the idea in a better w r ay. 



TO ENGLISH 55 

Other words that will help us do without and are as, as soon as, 
because, then, where, when, after, for, although, before, while. 
You can easily think of others when you get started. 

Exercise. Make these sentences better by giving and a 
vacation whenever you can spare him. 

1. Dunstan went out of the house, and Silas soon returned. 

2. I liked her, and she was not quite fair in her treatment of me. 

3. He is working every day this summer, and he never worked 

steadily before. 

4. He dropped his cartridge in the snow, and he had to hunt for 

it, and the rabbit ran away. 

5. I thought I could get a job there, and Jim is working there, and 

he is a good friend of mine. 

6. I want to keep my hat as nice as new, and Mother worked 

almost a day trimming it. 

7. We got home, and we cleaned up at once, and we wanted to 

go to the show. 

8. I didn't get my history lesson last night, and right after supper 

my uncle and my cousin came over, and they stayed and 
visited till bedtime. 

9. He had to stay away from school yesterday, and he was sick, 

and he is all right today. 

10. We rowed as fast as we could, and it would be dark before long, 

and we wanted to get to camp. 

11. We tried to make it in time, and the snow was pretty deep, 

and the wind was squarely in our faces, and we were too 
late. 

12. The tall, lank woman rose to greet us, and she seemed to go 

up like an extension ladder. 

13. The next morning I again encountered the sergeant, and he 

was getting an issue of coffee, and it was at a schoolhouse 
fifteen miles back of the line. 

14. She knew that he was a truthful boy, and she believed what 

he told her, and he said that he knew nothing about the 
purse. 

15. One of the slats was broken, and the rat had crawled into the 

chicken-pen there, and it was the one that had killed all these 
young chickens. 
1G. I told him he must be careful in sliding down off the load, 
and he had a pitchfork in his hand, and he might hurt 
himself with it. 



56 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Spelling 5 

Review the words, and all that is said about them, of Spelling 
1, page 22. No class ever looked too often or too hard or too 
long at those six marvelous words. No seventh-year class in 
the United States ever spelled all six of them correctly in all 
its written work for a year. Perhaps your class — if it re- 
views often enough — can break the world's record. 



LESSON 19 A 
Sentence Work 10 



Rewrite the following paragraphs, dividing into sentences. 
This exercise is so arranged that there is only one verb in each 
sentence. Underline each verb. 

I 

In the Central Park menagerie of New York City a "jazz" orchestra 
once played to the animals the polar bear was astonished at the queer 
sounds of the trombone and the saxophone first he sat up on his 
legs his jaws opened there was a nervous tremble in the muscles of 
his cheeks he began to sway excitedly from side to side in a curious 
kind of dance a small tame wolf in another cage ran into his den to 
hide later he ran out wildly the wise old elephant was the most in- 
different of all the animals probably the music seemed just a silly 
joke to him 

II 

Last night I saw a wonderful movie it showed a great naval battle 
in the North Sea we could look over miles and miles of ocean at the 
two fleets of warships steaming toward each other and firing broad- 
sides with their big cannon once a huge smoke-screen was thrown 
in front of a whole fleet sometimes the water was thrown up in great 
pillars by the explosion of bombs several cruisers were blown to bits 
never in my life have I seen anything so wild and exciting 

Father laughs at this picture he read all about it in Popular Science 
Monthly the "ocean" was nothing but the painted top of a big table 
the "warships" were little models about half an inch long the "fleets" 



TO ENGLISH 57 

were moved carefully by hand about a sixteenth of an inch at a time 
after each movement the camera-man would snap just that one pic- 
ture for one maneuver of one of the "fleets" the operators had to 
move the models 80,000 times 



LESSON 20 
Sentence Work 11 



A word like gathering cannot by itself be a verb. But if it is 
combined with amor is or are or was or were, it can help to form 
a verb. Notice the verbs in the following sentences: 

1. The pickers were gathering the cotton. 

2. I am helping my mother. 

3. Rob was seeing the sights. 

4. Los Angeles is growing rapidly. 

5. I was hoping for your recovery. 

The verbs are were gathering, am helping, was seeing, is growing, 
was hoping. 

Verbs of this kind may have three parts. 

1. I have been helping my mother. 

2. Bob had been seeing the sights. 

3. She has been hoping for your recovery. 

The verbs are have been helping, had been seeing, has been hoping. 
There are other verbs of three parts, like these : 

1. I could have helped my mother. 

2. He might have seen the sights. 

3. They may have eaten all the food. 

The verbs are could have helped, might have seen, may have eaten. 
Find all the verbs in the sentences on the top of the next 
page. Some have one word; some have two; some have three. 
Do not include any such words as to hide or to scowl. Do not 
include such words as for, hard, out. 



58 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

1. Where are you going? 2. I have been buying a new coat. 
3. These logs would have made excellent lumber. 4. They are not 
telling anything about it. 5. I have just been reading a good story 
in St. Nicholas. 6. I am going to hide in the attic. 7. The drug-store 
had been having a cut-price sale. 8. Were you looking for some- 
thing? 9. Molly had been trying hard not to scowl. 10. Was the train 
running very fast? 11. He could have earned two thousand dollars 
a year. 12. Is it as bad as that? 13. In my whole walk of more 
than thirteen miles I saw only one house. 14. For many years the 
shipyards of the Great Lakes have turned out huge lake boats. 
15. The old dog might have bitten you. 16. Is he subscribing for 
The Youth's Companion this year? 

Spelling 6 

Review Spelling 2, page 31. What counts in spelling is to 
review again and again. Of course your teacher is likely to 
put into the sentences that you write some words from Spelling 
1, page 22 — like too or all right or grammar. 



LESSON 20 A 

Sentence Work 12 



Rewrite this paragraph about how the Indians make fire. 
Divide it carefully into sentences. Each sentence has only one 
verb. 

The Indian knows how to make fire with two sticks one of these 
is about six feet long it is partly decayed the other stick is only a 
foot long and an inch wide the Indian holds the big stick firmly 
between his legs with one end on the floor then he rubs the small, 
hard stick against the punky one very rapidly soon he has made a 
groove in the big stick the tiny, dusty shavings gather at the bottom 
of the groove he rubs the little stick faster and faster he is working 
hard enough to bring out the sweat all over his body his eyes almost 
pop out of his head suddenly he stops he is holding the little stick 
against the bottom of the groove the hot end of it kindles the tiny 
shavings in two seconds more a little wisp of smoke curls up into 
the air the fire has started. 



TO ENGLISH 59 

The Right Forms 6 

know — knew — have or has known 

1. He knew his lesson. 

2. How long has she known it? 

3. You might have known better. 

4. I have known him for a year. 

5. I knew you when I saw you. 

6. Has she known this long? 

7. She has known it all week. 

8. He knew where to go. 

9. Suppose he had not known. 

10. Would you have known my voice? 

11. He knew how to ride. 

12. We knew the road. 

13. He knew the right answer. 

14. How could he have known it? 

15. She knew his step. 

16. The Spartans knew how to fight. 

17. I know it to be the truth. 

18. They knew only two stanzas. 

19. They have known each other for years. 

20. We knew him by his picture. 



LESSON 21 



Oral Composition 8 



Exercise. In the same way that you related an adventure in 
Lesson 17, page 52, prepare to tell orally a fable, or a story 
from history. Practice aloud several times. When your turn 
comes to speak, take plenty of time, and put in rest periods 
between sentences. Use as few and's as you can. 



60 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON 22 

Written Composition 5 

Look at the picture on the opposite page and note the pecul- 
iar mass of rock, towering up twelve hundred and eighty feet 
above the plain, which is named the Devil's Tower because of 
its strange, uncanny appearance. Nowhere else in the world is 
there a stranger rock formation. It is situated on the Custer Bat- 
tlefield Highway, between Sundance and Moorcroft, Wyoming. 

Some scientists think that this curious tower of rock is the 
"core" of a very ancient volcano. They believe that the molten 
substance in the center of the active volcano cooled into a rock 
much harder than the surrounding parts. Then, through 
thousands of years, the softer outer portions of the mountain 
were entirely worn away by wind and weather, leaving the solid 
core as we now see it. 

To the Indians this strange tower was an object of wonder 
and reverence. They believed that thunder was caused by the 
thunder god beating his mighty drum on top of the rock. The 
Indian story of how the tower came into existence is as follows : 

One day three Indian maidens who had gone some distance 
from the village to gather flowers were chased by three huge 
bears. To escape they climbed on top of a large rock. The 
bears started to climb up after them. The gods, seeing that 
the maidens were about to be taken, caused the rock to grow 
up out of the ground. The higher the bears climbed, the 
higher the rock grew. At last the bears, becoming exhausted, 
fell to their death on the rocks below. The maidens then 
made chains from the flowers which they had gathered, and 
lowered themselves to the ground. The rock upon which the 
maidens took refuge is today the Devil's Tower, and the marks 
made by the bears' claws can still be seen on its steep sides. 

One more interesting story is told about the Devil's Tower. 
It is said that somewhere about it is the opening of a large 
cave. During recent years a number of people have searched 
for it, but without success. Yet there is a man living not far 



TO ENGLISH 



61 




THE DEVIL S TOWER 



62 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

from the spot who says that he once found the cave and entered 
it. He found there the bones of many animals of different 
sorts and some human skeletons. How would you like to 
explore such a place? 

Can you imagine yourself trying to climb up the sides of this 
tremendous cone? How do you think you would feel if you 
really managed to get on top of it and then did not know how 
to come down again? If you notice how tiny the large trees that 
stand on the left-hand side seem, and realize the vast height 
of the peak, you will probably shiver and decide that you 
wouldn't care to make the attempt. 

Yet a few years ago a party of boys did actually climb to 
the top of the Devil's Tower. Somehow, by building rude 
ladders supported by sticks thrust into the crevices, they man- 
aged to arrive upon the great platform, far above the level. 
And then, when they decided to come down again, they were 
unable to find the topmost ladder! Nobody knew they were 
up there. What do you suppose happened? 

Now we have an opportunity to select from several compo- 
sition subjects. Pick the one you like best. 

1. Write a short story, beginning with the decision of 
the boys to start down. Write in the first person. Try to 
imagine that you are really up there, and tell the f eelings which 
you imagine you would have. Use direct quotations in the' 
conversation. See what your imagination and ingenuity can 
do. Think about pleasing and entertaining your classmates. 

2. Write the Indian legend in verse such as Longfellow uses 
for the many similar legends that he tells in "Hiawatha." 
Before beginning to write, it will be a good plan for you to 
read a few pages of "Hiawatha" to recall the swing of the lines 
and the sort of language the poet uses. You might start out 
in some such fashion as, 

Once three lovely Indian maidens, 
Daughters of the chief Watosa, 
Left their father's lofty wigwam, 
Wandered from the tribal village — 



TO ENGLISH 63 

3. Write a short story about an imaginary search for the 
mysterious cavern. Make every detail seem as real and 
natural as you possibly can. 



LESSON 23 

Sentence Work 13 



We have learned something about verbs. Before we can go 
on to learn more, we must know about the words like at and by 
and in. These little words are often attached to verbs. We 
need to know what they are, so that we shall not think they are 
part of a verb. 

Notice the word at in this sentence. 

I looked at the window. 

At is a very common little word. It usually has some noun or 
pronoun after it. 

1. I stared at the elephant. 

2. Uncle Phil came at noon. 

3. The dog rushed at me. 

4. I am not pointing at you. 

By is another little word like at. 

Nora stood by the door. 

Notice the noun or pronoun after by in these sentences : 

1. Stand here by me. 

2. Did you come by train? 

3. Molasses is sold by the quart. 

In is a word of the same kind. Notice the noun or pronoun 
in each of these sentences : 

1. He came in a taxi. 

2. Look in the pantry. 

3. There is a spring in it. 



64 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Other little words of the same sort are in these sentences. 
Notice the nouns or pronouns that follow them. 

1. He ran away from home. 

2. He came after supper. 

3. May I go with you? 

4. I bumped into him. 

5. Mother sent me to the store. 

6. The squirrel stood on his hind legs. 

7. The nurse has no control over her. 

These little words are called "prepositions." That is a big 
name for a small word, but it is easier to say than "the little 
words that have nouns or pronouns after them." 

The noun or pronoun after a preposition is called the "object" 
of the preposition. A preposition and its object together are 
called a "phrase." Find the preposition and its object in this 
sentence. 

We looked at the ostrich. 

The preposition is at. Its object is ostrich. At the ostrich is a 
phrase. 

Find the preposition in each of the following sentences. Say 
what the object of each preposition is. Then say what the 
phrase is — like this: "The preposition is by. Its object is side. 
By my side is a phrase." 

1. Margaret stepped into the trolley. 

2. We were resting in the shade. 

3. I stood on the bridge. 

4. The cat wanted to get away from me. 

5. The crowd was pouring through the gate. 

6. The audience stood during the prayer. 

7. I should like to climb to the top. 

8. Arthur slid down the banisters. 

9. The sailor climbed up a rope. 

10. You can succeed by hard work. 

11. The water ran under the road. 

12. There are big beams beneath the floor. 

13. Don't buy gum with your money. 

14. I stood behind mv small brother. 



TO ENGLISH 65 

15. You can't buy stamps without money. 

16. Just look at that giraffe ! 

17. There is some dirt above your left ear. 

18. Isn't there an arithmetic among your books? 

19. Next Saturday we play against Newtown. 

20. You will get an answer after five days. 



LESSON 24 

Spelling 7 



Have you ever noticed how an s is put at the end of a verb 
like sell or shift? It is a fact — strange as it sounds — that many 
young people never have noticed with their eyes wide open. 
They have dreamed a form and have written their dream. 

The fact is that s is put on all alone, squarely against the end 
of the verb. 

sells shifts rolls turns shows 

It is just the same with risks or basks or masks. It is just the 
same with the verb ask. 

She asks if I am sure I can spell grammar. 

There is another very common w r ay of putting an s on a 
word directly — without any other letter or any helping mark, 
its hers ours yours theirs 

Make good note of its, which is ten times as common as the 
other four put together. 

Put each book back in its place. 
The fault is ours, not hers. 

Y T ou have heard about all right. It is two sepArate words. 
Study the following phrases which must always be written as 
two words. 

at last in fact 

at all in spite 

In spite of his cleverness we caught him at last. 
In fact I couldn't see it at all. 



66 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Some of your classmates may not, in all the rest of the year, 
master every word of this lesson. Even if the teacher keeps 
reminding them and urging them to be more careful, they will 
fail every now and then. Resolve to kill your bad habits. 

Sentence Work 14 
Prepositions often come at the beginning of a sentence. 

1. By hard work you can succeed. 

2. During the prayer the audience stood. 

3. Beneath the floor there are big beams. 

4. Above the door hung a horseshoe. 

5. After five days an answer will come. 

Change each of the following sentences, putting the preposi- 
tions at the beginning of the sentences — like this : 

Donald stood between the horses. 
Between the horses stood Donald. 

1. Mr. Sales started in the early morning. 

2. We were ready to start at daybreak. 

3. I tripped him with a quick movement. 

4. We planted rose-bushes around the fountain. 

5. A party of Boy Scouts marched behind the band. 

6. The canoe plunged into the rapids. 

7. The sap was running from every tree. 

8. I have been out of school since February. 

9. Arthur rushed gaily down the street. 

10. There was not a sound until midnight. 

11. A little breeze began to blow toward evening. 

12. A long road stretched before him. 

13. That seemed a long way to me. 

14. The rule is different for us. 



LESSON 25 

Oral Composition 9 



Suppose we plan for the next class-period to compare some 
of our experiences in earning money. We might select such a 
subject as "How I made my first money." Some of these 



TO ENGLISH 67 

stories ought to be very amusing. Yet the very best material 
will be worthless unless it is told in sentences. Put in the periods 
with your voice, so that your classmates can say to themselves, 
"This is the end of a sentence." 



LESSON 26 

Written Composition 6 

Read this three-paragraph story, and see whether you would 
call it a good one. 

The Third Trap 

On Friday afternoon I had set three traps for muskrats along the 
creek that emptied into the river about two miles below Uncle Rob's 
farmhouse. Now it was Saturday morning. As I trotted along the 
bank, I could feel my heart beating with excitement. How I did 
hope that I might be lucky! Yet I was afraid that there might not 
be anything in any of my traps. 

When I reached the spot where I had set the first trap, I crept 
up on my hands and knees and peeped over the bank. There it was, 
under the shallow water, near the edge, just as I had set it. I was 
a little disappointed, but I did not lose hope. Soon I reached the 
second trap. Like the first one, it was undisturbed. My heart 
sank down into my shoes, and I began to feel that trapping was pretty 
poor sport, after all. 

Soon I had come to the place where my third and last trap was set. 
With hope and fear, I tiptoed up to the reeds at the edge of the water. 
What if this one, too, should be empty? Oh! if only I could catch 
one! Hardly daring to breathe, I looked into the water, and there, 
perfectly dead, and seeming to be standing on his head in the water, 
was a monstrous big brown muskrat! 

Like the panther story, this account of a boy's adventure 
begins without wasting any words; and when it reaches the 
end, it stops. Suppose the writer had gone on like this: "I 
took him out of the trap and set it again, for I hoped to catch 
another the next day. Then I started home. I reached the 



68 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

house tired and hungry, and I surely enjoyed Aunt Emma's 
magnificent bacon and eggs." 

While all this may be true, it certainly doesn't belong in this 
story. It is tacked on after the real ending. Nobody has the 
least bit of interest in it. It spoils the whole effect of the story. 
In your own stories, oral or written, always stop right after the 
point of highest interest. Don't drag in anything about the 
trip home or your appetite for supper. 

Exercise. Plan and write a three-paragraph story about an 
experience connected with Hallowe'en. Make the composition 
perfect in form. Get an interest-catching start. Avoid and 
and so as much as you can. When the story is done, stop. 



LESSON 27 

Letters 1 
Read this letter written by a seventh-year pupil to a chum. 

Collins, Nebraska 

June 12, 1921 
Dear Celia: 

Your experience in feeding birds interested me so much that I 
read your letter to Mother. We have had a good laugh over it. A 
person who can write such entertaining letters ought to write a great 
many of them for the sake of her friends. 

I had a strange little experience this spring. One day I made 
a little platform to feed birds on. I put it up in a clump of trees 
which were thickly hung with grapevines. The very next day I 
went to Aunt Ora's for a visit, and was gone for more than a week. 
When I got home, I immediately went out to my feeding stand to 
feed the birds some crumbs. When I stepped through the grapevines, 
what do you think I saw? 

There on the stand was a rough little nest made of sticks. On 
the nest sat a turtle dove. She flew off when she saw me, and in the 
nest were two eggs. A few days later, there were two little doves 
there. I thought that my feeding stand had been a success. 

Your friend, 

Viola Stevens 



TO ENGLISH 69 

Notice how this letter begins. Up at the right-hand corner 
of the page Viola wrote the name of the place from which she 
was writing. Under that, and a little to the right, she wrote the 
date. The name of the place from which the letter is written 
and the date must always be given at the beginning of a letter. 
We have a name for this which you will need to remember. 
We call it the Heading. 

If you live in a city, you must give your street number in 
the heading, putting it first in a line by itself. Then it will 
look like this : 

618 West Fourth Street 

Muscatine, Iowa 

November 29, 1919 

What punctuation marks do you notice in the headings 
which you have just observed? Can you make two easy rules 
for the use of commas in a heading? Now write the two rules 
on a slip of paper. See which member of the class has the best 
rules. 

Below are some headings which are not punctuated. Copy 
them on a sheet of paper, near the right-hand edge, and put in 
the punctuation marks, according to the two rules. 

1. 834 South 35th Street 3. 6640 East 68th Street 

Omaha Nebraska Chicago Illinois 

April 5 1920 December 12 1917 

2. Weston New Jersey 4. 314 Walnut Avenue 

August 23 1922 Clinton Missouri 

July 30 1921 

Exercise. Rule a plain sheet of paper into six equal strips, 
and write in each division a heading which you make up. At 
least four of them should contain street addresses. Don't 
forget to put in the commas. 

Caution. Notice that in the headings which you have read 
the dates were written this way: June 4, December 14, April 3. 
Never write 4th, 14th, or 3rd in headings. 



70 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

The Right Forms 7 
write — wrote — have or has written 

1. He wrote a letter. 

2. Did you write first? 

3. Why have you not written? 

4. He has written for me. 

o. I have written my theme. 

6. You could have written more plainly. 

7. She had written two stories. 

8. How many has he written? 

9. He says he has written five. 

TO. How can he have written so many? 

11. The title should have been written here. 

12. She has written on both sides of the paper. 

13. A theme must be written carefully. 

14. He has written the address properly. 

15. You should have written yours in the same way 



LESSON 28 

Spelling 8 



Review carefully — as if it were a new, difficult lesson — all 
that is said in Spelling 3, page 41. 

Prepare to recite orally on this topic: "How I can remember 
the right form of a word that has troubled me." You must 
think of some word that you once used to misspell, and must 
think of some other similar word with which you might put 
it. For example, an oral recitation might be: "Sometimes I 
have trouble with the word coarse — as in 'coarse cloth, coarse 
thread.' This ought to be spelled c-o-a-r-s-e. A word like this 
is h-o-a-r-s-e. If I had made up a sentence that had hoarse and 
coarse in it, I might have broken up the bad habit. I could have 
said, 'Put a coarse cloth around my hoarse throat.' " 



TO ENGLISH 71 

Sentence Work 15 

Read through the pairs of sentences below. Notice in each 
case how the second sentence begins. 

1. He slept soundly for eleven hours. At nine o'clock he waked up. 

2. The man and the lion were locked up in the room. In the 

street outside the crowd waited breathlessly. 

Read this next pair of sentences and decide where the second 
one ought to begin. 

3. First he read the letter from his sister after that he opened the 

one from Jim. 

It would sound queer to say, "First he read the letter from his 
sister after that." Surely the sensible way to divide is this: 
"First he read the letter from his sister. After that he opened 
the letter from Jim." 

Decide in the same way about each of these pairs of sentences. 
Be sure not to have any sentences that sound queer. In each 
case you will find that the second sentence begins with some- 
thing like "after that" or "by the light" or "at last" or "also." 

1. The smoldering wick burst into flame by the sudden light 

Wilbur saw his father. 

2. Eight weary days passed slowly by at last a telegram came. 

3. Maggie scrambled up the opposite bank at the top she paused 

and looked back. 

4. Harry peeped cautiously through the crack in the door at the 

stove stood a tramp frying some eggs in a rusty skillet. 

5. Lobsters are very expensive in fact they cost three times as 

much as good beefsteak. 

6. He was often rude and sarcastic with the boys so of course 

they tried to get even with him. 

7. Larry was a very serious boy also he was absolutely honest. 

8. The room was rather small otherwise it was perfectly comfort- 

able. 

9. For three years he was a clerk in a department store before 

that he had been an errand-boy. 
10. There was a queer squeaking sound in the attic also the latch 
in the front door was rattling mysteriously. 



72 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON 28 A 

Sentence Work 16 
The most common preposition is of. It usually comes after 
a noun. 

1. It was fastened by a chain of gold. 

2. Here is a mixture of salt and sugar. 

3. We stood in a forest of pine trees. 

4. He is the editor of a paper. 

We often find of after another preposition and its object. 

1 . in the hush of midnight 

2. around the door of the shop 

3. at the end of the game 

4. /rora the top of the tower 

5. through the noise o/ the street 

6. after the close of business 

7. /or the sake of my mother 

Put a subject and verb and several other words after each of 
the seven pairs of prepositions above, so as to make complete 
sentences — like this: "On the top of the ladder sat a very 
untidy little child." 

Read the following description of "the silent midnight." 
Every sentence begins with the subject and verb. It is tire- 
some to read such a lot of sentences that are all alike. 

1. It was the very dead of night. 2. Ichabod was riding along 
the high hills beside the Hudson River. 3. He felt scared on this long, 
lonely road. 4. The broad river looked dark and mysterious below 
him. 5. He could barely see the dusky forms of the boats in the 
dim starlight. 6. Everything was fearfully still. 7. He could hear 
the barking of a dog clear from the other side of the great river in 
the dead hush of midnight. 8. The crow of a rooster came to his 
ears from a farmhouse half a mile away. 9. These distant sounds 
only made the night seem more silent. 10. There was no sound near 
him. 11. All sorts of stories about ghosts and goblins came to his 
mind in this fearful silence. 12. The night grew darker and darker. 
13. He had never felt so lonely and dismal in all his life. 

Thirteen sentences, one after another, that begin in the 
same way are unpleasant. If all the sentences began with a 



TO ENGLISH 73 

preposition, they would be tiresome. It is disagreeable to have 
all sentences begin the same way. We want variety. 

Rewrite the description of "the silent midnight." Copy the 
first two sentences just as they are. Change number 3, so that 
it will begin with "on this long, lonely road." Make number 4 
begin with "below him." Make number 5 begin with "in the 
dim starlight." Keep number 6 just as it is. Change number 
7, so that it will begin with "in," and number 8 to begin with 
"from." Let number 9 and number 10 stay as they are. Be- 
gin number 11 with "in." Keep number 12 as it is. Begin 
number 13 with "in." 

When you write your next composition think of this exercise. 
Try to begin some of your sentences with prepositions. 



LESSON 29 



Letters 2 



Exercise. Write a letter to a relative in which you say that 
you are coming for a visit. State plainly how you will travel 
and when you will arrive, so that the person to whom you 
write can meet you. Place all the parts of the letter as they 
appear in the model on page 68, and punctuate in the same way. 



LESSON 30 

Spelling 9 



Always try to think of similar words in a group together. 
Suppose someone keeps making mistakes with lose. He must 
not say anything to himself about the wrong form that his mind 
dreamed when he was a child. He must look hard at the single 
o, must think "just one o," and must hunt for another similar 
word to go with it. Move is a good one, for it has only one o and 



74 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

has the same vowel sound. Another one is prove. Think of 
"lose, move, and prove." A group of three like that is a strong 
antiseptic; it kills the misspelling germs. 

Did you ever have the wrong habit with paid? If so, it is 
probably still in your system and breaks out once in a while. 
You must kill the germ. One good antiseptic is laid, which has 
the same ai and the same sound. Another is said. Think of 
"laid, paid, and said" together; then you can spell all three. 

Perhaps you are sometimes in doubt about already. If you 
let yourself think of the wrong form, or if you try to think how 
already is different from some word that has two Z's, your mind 
will be confused. You must find other similar words that be- 
gin with al. There are three others: almost, altogether, always. 
(Do you notice that altogether is one solid word, with no break, 
no hyphen — nothing but the ten letters?) You might make 
this picture of the words in your mind : 



al+< 



most 

ready 

together 

^ways 

Then if you learn, so that you can rattle them off quickly, in 
alphabetical order, "almost, already, altogether, always," you 
may perhaps escape mistakes in future with "the solid al words." 
This lesson shows you groups of words: 

lose, move, prove 

laid, paid, said 

almost, already, altogether, always 

Sentence Work 17 

Separate into sentences this account of "the hog and the 
cocoanut." Many of the sentences begin with prepositions. 

I once saw a drove of wild hogs in a grove of cocoanut trees on the 
ground were many ripe, sweet cocoanuts of these the hogs are very 
fond they have to work hard to break the thick, hard shells after an 
hour of gnawing they sometimes fail to get at the meat 



TO ENGLISH 75 

I once saw one of these pigs work two hours on a single nut he could 
not open it for a while he gave up in disgust after two hours he came 
back to attack it once more he was in a perfect rage he stamped it 
into the soft ground with his hoofs with his snout he tossed it angrily- 
then he bit it again with all his might after several minutes of biting 
he tossed it again then he had to hunt for it in this way he drove the 
cocoanut half way across the valley at sundown he was all tired out 
not a mouthful of food did he get for all his trouble. 



LESSON 31 

Letters 3 



When one writes a letter to a person who is not a close friend 
or a relative, it is necessary to write that person's address below 
the heading and close to the left-hand margin. Notice how Mr. 
Elliot's address is placed in this sample. 

136 West Monroe Avenue 
Glen wood, Wisconsin 

August 30, 1920 
Mr. Frederick Elliot 

Blue Springs, Colorado 
Dear Sir: 

Notice that the only mark of punctuation used in this address 
follows one of the rules which you made for the heading. What 
is it? 

Exercise. Examine the advertisements in a magazine or 
newspaper and pick out six addresses. Copy these on a sheet 
of paper, close to the left-hand margin. Some of them will be in 
three lines instead of two because the street and number will 
need to be given. Observe these addresses. For what purpose 
are periods used? 

1. South Bend Printing Co. 2. The Mitchell Boat Mfg. Co. 

511 High Street 621 Ellis Avenue 

South Bend, Ind. Peshtigo, Wis. 



76 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON 32 

Letters 4 

When we meet a person and start to talk with him, we gen- 
erally begin by saying "Hello" or "Good morning." A letter 
always starts with a word or two of greeting. We call this the 
Salutation. You should remember this name, for you will use 
it many times. In the letter on page 68 the salutation was 
"Dear Celia:" For other letters we might use such salutations 
as those in the following exercise. 

Exercise. Rule a sheet of paper into five equal strips. Then, 
leaving a margin of about one inch at the left, copy the follow- 
ing addresses and salutations : 

1. Mr. Thomas B. Gates 4. Mr. Adam J. Bedell 

Tinmouth, Vermont 412 Clinton Avenue 

My dear Mr. Gates: Seattle, Wash. 

Dear Sir: 

2. The Fowler Refrigerator Co. 

126 Chandler Street 5. Mrs. Samuel A. Bliss 

Brooklyn, New York 856 Marquette Road 

Gentlemen: Chicago, 111. 

Dear Madam: 

3. Miss Amy Brown 

Albert Lea, Minnesota 
My dear Miss Brown : 

Do you know the name of the mark which follows each of 
these salutations? It is called a colon. It is a serious blunder 
to use a semicolon ( ;) for this purpose. 

Exercise. Write on a sheet of paper, close to the left-hand 
margin, a salutation to each of the following : 

1. A member of your family 5. The minister of a church in 

2. A friend of your own age your city 

3. One of your teachers 6. A firm which deals in athletic 

4. The mayor of your city goods or other merchandise 



TO ENGLISH 77 

LESSON 32 A 

Letters 5 

Compose five addresses and salutations to correspond. Place 
these in the proper position on a page ruled into five strips. 

In addition, clip from some real letters the headings and 
salutations. Bring these to class, and exchange with another 
pupil. See how many of them are correctly written. Correct 
any that are wrong. 



LESSON 32 B 

Letters 6 

Exercise. Write the following carefully on pages ruled into 
four equal parts. Look at the models if you are in doubt about 
any point. Be sure that your work is exactly right before you 
bring it to class. The dashes are used just to separate the parts, 
and of course you will not copy them. 

1. Beatrice— Nebraska— January 28— 1918— Mr. Jacob S. Olds— 

1144 Louisiana Avenue — Lawrence — Kansas — My dear Mr. 
Olds 

2. Hibbing — Minnesota — March 9 — 1920 — Blue River Game 

Farms — Box 109 — Middletown — New Jersey — Gentlemen 

3. 467 East Third Street— Dayton— Ohio— June 4— 1921— The 

Randall Furniture Co. — Grand Rapids — Michigan — Gentle- 
men 

4. 1232 Oak Avenue — Evanston — Illinois— February 21 — 1922 — 

Miss Felice Williams — Craig — Colorado — My dear Miss 
Williams 

5. Langford — Pennsylvania — September 10 — 1921 — J. F. Pren- 

tiss Boat Co. — 412 Erie Street — Albion — Michigan — Gentle- 
men 



78 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

6. Box 463— Easton— Maryland— August 17— 1919— Air. Ira H. 

Mclntire — Assistant Superintendent of Schools — Green Bay 
— Wisconsin — Dear Sir 

7. The Strasser Quilting Company — 18 Laight Street — New York 

City— April 20— 1922— Mrs. W. H. Anderson— Danville- 
Illinois — Dear Madam 

8. 580 Madison Street — Richmond — Virginia — September 14 — 

1921 — Judge Amos W. Gary — 28 Vandeventer Place — 
St. Louis — Missouri — My dear Sir 

9. 810 South Hill Street — Los Angeles — California — August 17 — 

1920 — Miss Florence Brady — Bedford — Iowa — Dear Miss 
Brady 

10. The University Club — New Haven — Conn. — October 23 — 

1918 — Charles Knight and Sons — Fifth Avenue and 45th 
Street — New York — Gentlemen 

11. Archer — Wyoming — December 6 — 1922 — Smith and Brewer 

Co. — 265 Broadway — New York — Gentlemen 

12. 717 Market Street — San Francisco — California — May 28 — 

1919 — Schafer Band Instrument Company — 1024 Schafer 
Block — Elkhart — Indiana — Gentlemen 



LESSON 33 

Written Composition 7 

How the baby got me into 

trouble 
A joke that succeeded 
A joke that failed to work as 

it was planned 
When I forgot my purse 
7. My big brother's adventure 12. That miserable goat 

Choosing one of these subjects, write a story of three para- 
graphs. Remember what the first paragraph must do. If you 
are hazy about it, turn back to page 40 and refresh your memory 
before you start out. Make a neat, crisp ending. 



1. 


A ghost — almost! 


8. 


2. 


A surprising discovery 




3. 


How I was caught 


9. 


4. 


A frightful dream 


10. 


5. 


A clever dog 




6. 


How I learned to skate 


11. 



TO ENGLISH 79 

The Right Forms 8 

eat — ate — have or has eaten 

1. We ate our lunch. 

2. Who ate the cake? 

3. I ate some of it. 

4. The horse has eaten his hay. 

5. Has he eaten any oats? 

6. Billy ate too much pie. 

7. He shouldn't have eaten so much. 

8. He has eaten his supper. 

9. The bear had eaten the honey. 

10. The rat ate a hole in the coat. 

11. Has she eaten the oranges? 

12. She has eaten one of them. 

13. Who ate the other? 

14. Somebody has eaten it. 

15. You ate it yourself. 

16. Do not eat so fast. 

17. The canary has not eaten its food. 

18. John had eaten earlier. 

19. The rabbits have eaten the lettuce. 

20. We ate in the park. 



SUMMARY OF MINIMUM ABILITY FOR MID-YEAR 
PROMOTION 

1. Spelling. The pupil should be able to spell too, all right, 
separate, grammar, meant (Lesson 3); any, many, anything, 
know, knew, known, throw, threw, thrown, perhaps, perform, 
across, among, before (Lesson 7); have, told, speak, rode, drove, 
shone, led, rough, enough (Lesson 12) ; whose, sure, toward, once, 
woman, until, crowd, every, does, some, sense, level, stretch, their 
(Lesson 15) ; rolls, turns, shows, asks, its, hers, ours, yours, theirs, 
at last, at all, in fact, in spite (Lesson 24) ; lose, move, prove, laid, 
paid, said, already, almost, altogether, always (Lesson 30). 

The pupil should have gained some skill in helping himself 
out of his own spelling difficulties by "putting similar forms 
together." 

2. Sentence Work. The pupil should readily and habitually 
recognize that a word like it, he, they, then, there is the sign of an 
independent statement (Lesson 4) . He should be able to recog- 
nize promptly verbs of one and two and three words made with 
have, could, might, etc. (Lessons 5, 11 A, 20). He should be able 
to select ordinary nouns (Lesson 9) and pronouns (Lesson 12) 
and to find the subjects of verbs (Lesson 14). He should be able 
to recognize prepositions and their objects (Lesson 23) and to 
vary sentences by beginning them occasionally with phrases 
(Lessons 24, 28). He should be able to apply his knowledge of 
grammar to the separation of solid passages into proper sen- 
tences (Lessons 4, 7, 15, 18, 28). He should be able to apply the 
drill in sentence-separation to the recognition and correction of 
"sentence-errors" in his own writing. 

3. Use of the Dictionary. The pupil should be able to make 
practical use of the dictionary to discover how to spell or pro- 
nounce words, or to learn their meaning. His knowledge of tli2 

83 



TO ENGLISH 81 

alphabetical order should enable him to find the word he desires 
without loss of time, and he should be perfectly sure of the most 
common diacritical marks. 

4. Written Composition. At this stage the pupil should be 
able to write a neat theme of from one to three short paragraphs 
which is correct in mechanical form. He should be able to 
handle the simple sentence, with not more than one false sen- 
tence to a page. He should use very few compound sentences, 
especially those which employ the conjunction and. 

The pupil should be able to write the letter forms with- 
out error in position or punctuation. 

5. Oral Composition. The pupil should be able to prepare 
and give an oral composition consisting of from eight to twelve 
short, simple sentences, with very little use of connectives. 
The test of enunciation will be whether all in the class can hear 
and understand. 

6. Verb Drills. Drill upon the "right forms" should have 
established the beginnings of habits of correctness in the use of 
the important verbs see, go, do, lie, sit, know, write, and eat. 



82 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON 34 

Sentence Work 18 
Some verbs of two words are made with do. 

1. Do you go often? 

2. I didn't know what to do. 

3. Does your ear ache? 

The verbs are do go, did know, does ache. 

Another kind of two- word verb is shown in these sentences: 

1. The horse was tied to a post. 

2. Soldiers are shot if they disobey. 

3. I am now caught in my own trap. 

4. Were you seen by anybody? 

5. The ink-spot is covered by a rug. 

Find every verb in the following sentences. Do not put any 
prepositions with the verbs, nor any words like able or good or 
sure. Find the subject of each verb by asking, "Who or what?" 

Some of the verbs have three words; some have two; some 
have only one. 

1. I certainly do dread to have dirty hands. 

2. Out of the hat came a squirming rabbit. 

3. Have you seen my rubbers anywhere? 

4. We are able to do better now. 

5. The explosion was heard five miles away. 

6. Was the explosion heard as far away as that? 

7. After the lightning came the thunder. 

8. The roar of thunder was heard frequently. 

9. Have you been able to keep up a good mark? 

10. At the close of the performance there was a dance. 

11. I have been standing here long enough. 

12. Have you been waiting for me? 

13. We shall not be able to meet you. 

14. I am held here by a telegram. 

15. A big pile of letters was on his desk. 

16. Are you preparing for tomorrow's lesson? 

17. The newsboy didn't pay any attention to the lady. 

18. Did you look at the silver watches? 

19. There has been some snow in the mountains. 



TO ENGLISH 83 

20. Jonathan was coming from the barn. 

21. Up from the cellar were coming the sounds of a quarrel. 

22. For a month Roland had been slowly recovering from scarlet 

fever. 

23. I am sure of the number. 

24. Out of this old paper is made a substance as hard as steel. 

25. Is he planning to return? 

26. Every day of the vacation Marion has been coming regularly 

to see me. 

27. On the inside of the cover was a picture of his wife. 

28. Dwight and Hardy were all covered with mud. 

29. Perhaps I am only dreaming. 

30. Ducks are not often seen in winter. 

31. Up the street rode General Wheeler. 

32. Has he been deceived? 

33. Under my finger-nail there has been a clot of blood for a week. 

34. Did Perry ever find his watch? 

35. Far off in the west was one little white cloud. 

36. What had the lady said? 

37. Do you ever want to go to Florida? 

38. A man does not like to be hit with a snowball. 

39. You may look at my collection of stamps. 

40. Ned will be up soon. 



LESSON 35 

Spelling 10 



Review the words of Spelling 4, page 47. See if you can 
think of some trick for remembering each word. For ex- 
ample, if any classmate of yours has had a wrong habit with 
whose, don't you think he could help himself if he learned to say, 
"Whose move is it?" Or he might say, "Whose is like lose.'* 
Anyone who can think of the two su words, sure and sugar, in a 
sentence ought not to fail with either word in the future. 

Suppose you want medicine for a friend whose mind is ill with 
the misspelling of toward. You must hunt for a word that looks 
almost the same. You begin with b and get boward, but there 
is no such word. Then you try c — and there is coward, the very 
thing you are looking for. You can make a sentence : "He ran 



84 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

toward the coward." It will be better still if we say, "Howard 
ran toward the coward." 

Try to make some medicine for each word of Spelling 4, page 
47. Find a similar word to put it with or make a sentence of 
advice, like "Put two s's in sense." 

Sentence Work 19 

Separate into sentences this story of the pup and the game- 
cock. A number of the sentences begin with prepositions. 

The pup's master kept a flock of game-hens in a fence of pickets and 
barbed wire among them was a fighting-cock he had a strong bill and 
spurs as sharp as needles often the pup had barked at them it was 
great sport to see them cackle and run away in fear the pup longed to 
get inside to chase them to his delight one day he found a hole under 
the fence through this he wriggled at last he was going to have perf ec t 
joy he grabbed at the nearest hen she dodged him the next moment the 
game-cock came at the pup with one fierce stroke of his spurs he set 
the pup's nose to bleeding the second stroke sent the pup sprawling in 
the dust again and again the pup was struck by the cruel bill and spurs 
in fear and distress he ran for the hole under a cool rose-bush he licked 
his wounds he was a sadder and a wiser dog. 

The Right Forms 9 

take — took — have or has taken 

1. Take this pitcher to the well. 

2. I took both boxes. 

3. He has taken cold. 

4. You should have taken his part. 

5. Have you taken the money home? 

6. Why have you taken my sweater? 

7. An accident had taken place. 

8. She ought to have taken more pains. 

9. The ax had been taken from its place. 

10. They have taken the easiest jobs. 

11. This post must be taken out. 

12. They have taken their share now. 

13. He had taken his sled to the hill. 

14. She ought to have taken it. 



TO ENGLISH 85 

LESSON 36 

Letters 7 

A friend who missed the last two recitations because oi 
illness asks you what the class has done during his absence. 
Write him a letter of reply. If necessary, turn back to page 68 
for your model. 



LESSON 37 

Letters 8 



The main part of a letter is called the Body. If the body of 
the letter contains more than one paragraph, each paragraph 
should state one distinct part of the message. You know already 
that paragraphs in letters are indented, just as in other com- 
positions. 

After the body of a letter comes what is called the Compli- 
mentary Close. This is just a pleasant and courteous form for 
ending the letter. 

The Signature is the name of the writer. It is always written 
with the pen, even if the rest of the letter is typewritten. 

Notice these specimens of the complimentary close and sig- 
nature : 

Yours truly, Sincerely yours, 

George H. Sloan Luella Smith 

Exercise. Write a letter to the postmaster of your city, in- 
forming him that you have changed your address. You should 
tell him what your address has been, as well as what the new 
one is to be. Be sure to write plainly, and to observe all the 
points you have studied. 



86 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON 37 A 

Letters 9 

Review Exercise. Write out the following in proper form and 
position, leaving a space of about an inch to represent the body 
of the letter in each case. 

1. 6330 Wentworth Avenue — Chicago — Illinois — January 12 — 1919 

— Sutter and Lund Co. — Madison Avenue and 45th Street — 
New York — Yours truly — Joseph Carter 

2. Vinton— Kansas— May 1—1913— Mrs. David S. Grant— Port 

Washington — Wis. — Dear Mrs. Grant — Very truly yours — 
Alfred H. Wilson 

3. West Liberty— Iowa— October 30— 1921— Robert Mitchell Gra- 

ham — Natick — Mass. — My dear Mr. Graham — Sincerely yours 
— Ella Morgan 

4 . The Richards Hotel— Bay View— Mich.— July 2— 1915— Lockett 

Hardware Company — Lancaster — Pennsylvania — Gentlemen 
— Yours truly — H. B. Smith 

5. Coleridge — Nebraska — April 17 — 1918 — Union Furnace Com- 

pany — 816—822 South Michigan Avenue — Chicago — Illinois 
— Gentlemen — Very truly yours — Lloyd E. Whittaker 

6. 522 South Franklin Street— Kewanee— Illinois— March 9—1920 

— Mrs. Julia Angell — 226 Brook Street — Louisville — Ken- 
tucky — Dear Madam — Yours respectfully — H. C. Dunham 
and Co. — Charles D. Barber — Secretary 



LESSON 38 

Sentence Work 20 
A sentence may contain two verbs. 
Suddenly he stops and holds the stick in the shavings. 

The subject he belongs with both verbs. There is only one 
sentence. 

A sentence may have three or four verbs. 

He paused, looked carefully around, listened for several seconds, and 
then advanced. 



TO ENGLISH 87 

The subject he belongs with each one of the four verbs. There 
is only one sentence. 

Separate the next paragraph into sentences. Some of the 
sentences contain two verbs; some have only one. 

The first man climbed about forty feet and found a ledge to rest on 
then he fastened the rope and made a firm line for the second man to 
climb with the second man mounted to the ledge and there waited for 
the first man to climb again this time the first man reached a ledge only 
twenty feet higher up again the second mounted after him and waited 
for the first man to climb to a third ledge so they kept on up the face 
of that thousand-foot cliff within an hour they had reached the top 
and were waving their hats at us. 

Spelling 11 

Most young Americans nowadays dread to use the verb lie. 
They ought to use it in sentences like these : 

1. The book lies on the desk. 

2. An alligator often lies on a sunny bank. 

If we can persuade a person to use lies, he is almost sure to spell 
it correctly. Also he can probably spell ties, as in 'Hies his shoe- 
laces," "ties the score." 

If we point to the ies of those little verbs and get his eyes wide 
open, so that he can see ies, we can then flash 

cries 

upon the screen. We can show him that cries is just like lies 
and ties. 

Then, making sure that his eyes are still wide open, we show 
him 

tries 
If he wants to learn and has strong will-power, he will then make 
his mind see ies while his lips say 

lies ties cries tries 

How many times, in your various textbooks and on the 
board, have you seen viodifies? It ends in ies, just like cries and 



88 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

tries. Do you suppose that anyone in your class has been 
dreaming a wrong form of modifies? It hardly seems possible. 
Yet, unless your class is different from almost every other class 
in the United States, there are two or three such pupils who 
recite with you every day. Isn't it mysterious? Spelling is 
peculiar. 

The Right Forms 10 

draw — drew — have or had drawn 

1. I drew a picture. 

2. Sleds are drawn by dogs. 

3. We drew lots for the prize. 

4. He had drawn the bucket up. 

5. She drew down the shade. 

6. He had drawn his gloves on. 

7. Two horses drew the carriage. 

8. This picture is well drawn. 

9. She drew water for the camels. 

10. He drew a plain sketch of the road. 

11. Could you have drawn a better one? 

12. Neither you nor I could have drawn so well. 

13. The sleigh was drawn up to the door. 

14. Who drew this picture? 

15. It was drawn by the art teacher. 

16. She has drawn a better map than you have. 



LESSON 39 

Oral Composition 10 



When we first meet a person, we form an opinion of him by 
the way he talks. The power to talk correctly and pleasantly 
helps one to make friends and to win the confidence of other 
people. Friends are good to have, and the confidence of the 
people with whom we come in contact is worth working for. 



TO ENGLISH 89 

We can learn much about speaking by paying attention to the 
talk of others and by consciously trying to talk better ourselves. 
Like every other ability that is worth having, the ability to 
speak well requires practice. 

Exercise. Notice carefully a conversation that takes place 
in your home at mealtime, so that you can give it in class. 
When giving your report, speak slowly and plainly, with rest 
periods at the ends of statements. Spare and as much work 
as vou can. 



LESSON 40 

Sentence Work 21 

Read the lines below. They are not sentences at all, for they 
do not make statements. 

1. when we were ready 5. than she can buy 

2. if you care to go 6. what he said 

3. as if he had been hurt 7. why he forgot to get a 

4. that he is sick ticket 

If a person says, "When we were ready," you think, "Well, 
what then?" You want to know what happened. You wait 
for him to say something more, to make a real statement. 

When a person says, "If you care to go," we wait for the rest. 
He has not yet said anything. When we hear "as if he had been 
hurt," we know that this is only the end of a sentence. 

A complete sentence would be "He acted as if he had been 
hurt." "She said that he was sick." But "as if he had been hurt" 
by itself is not a sentence. It is only part of a sentence. 

So we might say, "I asked him why he forgot to get a ticket." 
Or we might ask, "Why did he forget to get a ticket?" These 
are sentences. But "why he forgot" is only a part of a sentence. 

These parts of sentences are called "clauses." We shall not 
study clauses till later in the book; but we want to learn how to 



90 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

know a few of the common ones, because even pupils much 
younger than you use them frequently in talking. 

In each of the following sentences there is one of these clauses. 
Find each one. 

1. You may go when you have finished. 2. The teacher asked why 
we put up our hands. 3. The foreman will tell you how he used to 
work. 4. He has more money than he can spend. 5. She could 
have gone with us if she had wanted to. 6. He was angry because we 
didn't treat him. 7. Mr. Rickard stood where he could not be seen. 
8. I told him that he would be sorry. 9. Neither boy could tell what 
the answer was. 10. Tompkins had better pay his debts before he 
buys silk shirts. 11. If you want to, you may go with us. 12. Your 
tardiness will not be excused unless your mother writes a note. 13. I 
am ready whenever you are. 14. You must keep on working till you 
get the right answer. 15. Miss Fay thought that her new dress was 
very pretty. 16. We had better buy while the price is low. 17. The 
doctor didn't know what disease Jim had. 18. The water bubbled 
after he sank. 19. Gridley, you may fire when you are ready. 20. The 
cat acted as if she had been stealing cream. 21. He was elected 
because the people thought he was honest. 22. Amy did not finish 
the book until the clock struck two. 23. He folded up his napkin 
after he had finished. 24. My father's steps were longer than I 
could take. 25. Fred could not imagine why they laughed so. 
26. Owen plunged into the woods where the stream made a little 
opening. 27. The judge was coughing while the prisoner spoke. 
28. Jarvis rubbed his hand as if it were sore. 29. He yelled before 
he was hurt. 30. You will surely fail unless you study harder. 



LESSON 41 

Written Composition 8 

Here is an incident, as retold by a pupil, from one of the best 
stories ever written in America, Rip Van Winkle. When you 
read it aloud and notice the sound of it, you will think it a shame 
that anyone should take an incident from such a fine story and 
spoil it by telling it in this way. 

Just then Rip saw a young woman coming through the crowd with a 
child in her arms. When it saw Rip, the child began to cry. The 



TO ENGLISH 91 

woman said for it not to cry. She said the old man wouldn't hurt it. 
When she said this, she called it Rip. Then Rip asked the woman what 
her name was. She said it was Judith Gardinier. He asked her what 
her father's name was, and she said it was Rip Van Winkle. She also 
said that he had gone away twenty years before, and had never been 
heard of since. He asked her where her mother was. She said her mother 
was dead, too. She said she got mad at a peddler, and broke a blood- 
vessel, and died. He caught her in his arms and said he was her father. 
He said he was Rip Van Winkle. 

This conversation has no life in it. You can't form a picture 
of the persons, or imagine that you hear their voices. One 
reason why the scene seems so dead is that the speaker used 
indirect quotations instead of giving us the exact words the 
people used. Now read the incident in the author's own words, 
and see how much more real and interesting it becomes. 

At this critical moment a fresh, comely woman pressed through the 
throng to get a peep at the gray -bearded man. She had a chubby child 
in her arms, which, frightened at his looks, began to cry. 

"Hush, Rip," cried she, "hush, you little fool; the old man won't 
hurt you." The name of the child, the air of the mother, the tone of 
her voice, all awakened a train of recollections in his mind. "What 
is your name, my good woman?" asked he. 

"Judith Gardinier." 



"And your father's name 



3" 



"Ah, poor man, Rip Van Winkle was his name, but it's twenty years 
since he went away from home with his gun, and never has been heard 
of since. His dog came home without him; but whether he shot him- 
self, or was carried away by the Indians, nobody can tell." 

Rip had but one question more to ask; but he put this with a falter- 
ing voice: "Where's your mother?" 

"Oh, she too died but a short time since; she broke a blood-vessel in 
a fit of passion at a New England peddler." 

The honest man could contain himself no longer. He caught his 
daughter and her child in his arms. "I am your father!" cried he — 
"Young Rip Van Winkle once— old Rip Van Winkle now ! — Does 
nobody know poor Rip Van Winkle?" 

Here the living persons seem to stand before us. Words like 
comely, chubby, and gray-haired tell what they looked like. Such 
an expression as pressed through the throng suggests real action. 



92 



THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 



Notice how the writer has avoided said and asked. Expres- 
sions like cried and put this with a faltering voice tell us how the 
speakers felt and what their words must have sounded like. 
Some of the speeches in the dialog have no said words at all. 

Notice how dead and solid the following conversation is : 

After Gluck had looked at the river a while, he said that it would 
certainly be fine if it were really all gold. Then a clear, metallic voice 
said that it wouldn't, either. Gluck jumped up and asked who was 
speaking. There was nobody to be seen. 

If we change the indirect quotations to direct quotations, we 
can make the passage twice as interesting. 

"Ah!" observed Gluck, after he had looked at it for a while, "if that 
river were really all gold, what a nice thing it would be!" 

"No, it wouldn't, Gluck," piped a clear, metallic voice close to his ear. 

"Bless me! what's that?" exclaimed Gluck, jumping up. There 
was nobody to be seen. 

A conversation is always more real if we use the exact words 
of the speakers, and if we frequently employ, in place of said and 
asked, words that tell us more about the tone and manner of the 
speaker. It is not very hard to do these things, even in oral 
work, if we keep thinking that we do not need to hurry. When 
we pause for a rest period at the end of a sentence, we can think 
how to begin the next one. 

Here are a few words which we can use with our direct quota- 
tions to take the place of the tiresome and overworked words 
said and asked. 



inquired spoke continued 

questioned exclaimed observed 

replied answered remarked 

returned murmured insisted 



cried shouted yelled 

called jeered groaned 

stated whined pleaded 

sighed declared roared 



Exercise. Prepare as a written composition the story of 
what happened and what was said when somebody took you 
to a store to buy a new suit or dress or a pair of shoes. Use 
direct quotations, putting in all the punctuation marks that are 
needed. Make the talk sound real when the theme is read aloud. 



TO ENGLISH 93 

LESSON 41 A 

Written Composition 9 

Let each pupil select a magazine story which he wishes to 
read. When you have finished reading your story, go through 
it and pick out all the words used in place of said or asked. 
Write these expressions in a column, putting before each a 
number showing how many times you find it in the story. 
Compare the lists in class, and see who has the most different 
terms. 



LESSON 41 B 

Written Composition 10 

Write down as many synonyms as you can think of for each 
of the words in this list. Sometimes you may use several words 
in place of one. 



shine 


difficult 


help (verb) 


big 


brave 


pain 


quit 


climb 


pleasant 


hasten 


work (verb) 


hill 


timid 


foolish 


win 


rubbish 


get 


kill 


small 


dismiss 



In class the lists may be put on the board and discussed. 
Each pupil should be ready to defend the words he has chosen. 



LESSON 42 
Oral Composition 11 



Not long ago a seventh-year class was given the following 
assignment. Each pupil was asked to question some person 
just as a newspaper reporter does when he wants to get an inter- 
view for his paper. The subject for this interview was : "Which 
do you think gives us the more useful training, mathematics or 
history?" Of course, the wisest man could scarcely hope to 



94 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

settle such a question. But the pupils were not trying to settle 
it. They were simply getting the opinions of the persons with 
whom they talked, so that they could give reports of the inter- 
views in class. This is the way a boy named Willis gave his oral 
report. The notes of the shorthand writer give the exact words 
the boy used. 

I had an interview with one of my neighbors while walking down to 
school today. I told him I wanted to have an interview with him for 
English. He said, "All right. Fire away." 

So I started in and asked him, "Which do you think is more impor- 
tant, mathematics or history?" 

He said he thought he would rather take history, but that he thought 
mathematics was more important. I asked him what he would do 
without mathematics. He would have to use that almost every day, 
but he said he had to learn a lot of stuff that was of no use, and — er — he 
thought it wasn't any use to him. He said he thought history was 
more important. 

Can you give a better report of an interview than this? 
It is to be hoped that you can, for this one is pretty bad. The 
speaker did not make his point plain. He stammered and con- 
tradicted himself. He started out with direct quotations, but 
soon he got lost in a tangle of indirect ones, and repeated said 
until we were tired of hearing it. His report has no life or inter- 
est in it. 

A girl named Violet gave a report on the same subject. 
What makes hers more lively than the first one? Can you tell? 

This morning I walked up to Mother and said to her, "Now, Mother, 
I'm going to have an interview with you." 

Mother laughed and replied, "I think I know what it's for. It is 
for your English class, isn't it?" I told her that she was right. 

I then asked, "Mother, what good does mathematics do us, any- 
way?" Mother answered, "We need mathematics all the time. Every 
person who has a job must know something of mathematics. It is 
used by practically everyone in daily life." 

Then I inquired, "Well, what good does history do us?" 

Mother thought a little, and then she answered, "Why, history 
isn't exactly as necessary as mathematics, but it is very interesting and 
useful. We should all like to know history. It develops the mind to 



TO ENGLISH 95 

study it, and to learn the important things that have happened in the 
world." 

"Which of the two do you think is more important?" I questioned. 
Mother answered decidedly, "Mathematics, of course. History is more 
like a book which we read for interest and pleasure. Mathematics we 
need for all kinds of practical work." 

You see this interview sounds like the talk of real, live people. 
Besides, the speaker used various words in place of said and 
asked, and thus kept her talk from being tiresome. She made 
good, complete sentences. 

Exercise. Hold an interview with an older person on the 
subject: "How can Junior High School pupils make this town 
better?" It will be a good plan to make up several questions 
to begin and carry on the conversation, so as to draw out the 
information you want. During the interview you should have 
in your hand a small notebook and a pencil, for you may want 
to jot down a few notes. Then, just as soon as the conversation 
is over, make the notes for your oral report while you can still 
remember the words of the conversation. Make the report 
sound as real and lifelike as you can. 



LESSON 43 
Sentence Work 22 



One kind of clause that we all use a great deal in speaking is 
shown here in italics: 

The knife costs so much that I can't buy it. 

Other common little clauses of the same kind are : 

1. I am as tall as you are. 

2. The bandage hurt so that I had to take it off. 

3. He is not so strong as I am. 

Another kind of clause is made with the words who, which, 
and that. Examples are given on the next page. 



96 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

1. The policeman who stopped me is named Morris. 

2. I broke the pencil which I was trying to sharpen. 

3. The sundae that I like best is made with marshmallow. 

We need to learn the sound and the feeling of a clause, so that 
we can always know that it is not a sentence. Think of clauses 
this way: 

"As you are" is not a complete sentence. 

"That I had to take it off" is not a statement that can stand 
by itself. 

"Who stopped me" is only a piece of a sentence. 

"If we can go home" is only a part of a sentence. 

"Which was the only one left" is not a sentence. 

Find the clause in each of the sentences below. Then say, 
"This is not a sentence. It is only a part of a sentence." 

In six of the sentences the clauses come first — like this: 
"While I was hunting for Sherman, he was having a fine bus- 
ride down the Avenue." Notice the comma after the clause. 

1. I was so dizzy that I had to sit down. 2. He has a vase which 
cost two hundred dollars. 3. You ought not to wear a cap when you 
go to church. 4. Before I gave the signal, they started. 5. The 
banks are not making so much money as they did before the war. 

6. Grandfather wanted to know what he should buy us for Christmas. 

7. Ralph lives in an old white farmhouse that was built before the 
Revolution. 8. I am looking in my geography for Yap, which must 
be a very small island indeed. 9. If you want to, you may be excused 
now. 10. I want to know how I can divide 7 by 12. 11. I make as 
many mistakes in a week as Flora makes in a month. 12. The con- 
ductor wanted to know why I rang the bell. 13. If you see any way 
to get out of this scrape, you ought to tell me. 14. Mr. Payne acted 
as if he had never heard about our bill. 15. While the third class was 
filing down stairs, we were very restless. 16. After working another 
hour I decided that the problem was too hard for me. 17. The baby 
can grip harder than you might think. 18. If there is a little ice- 
cream left, I should like some. 19. I asked the clerk which was the 
best piece of goods for the money. 20. As I was walking calmly to 
my seat, the teacher suddenly called my name. 21. The eagle killed 
the duck because he was hungry. 22. The woman at the desk asked 
me who had signed the card. 23. The hounds were barking at the 
place where the deer had jumped into the water. 



TO ENGLISH 97 

The Right Forms 11 

ought 

1. I ought to go. 

2. I ought to have gone. 

3. You ought to do better work. 

4. He ought to get more sleep. 

5. You ought not to eat so fast. 

6. This boy ought not to be here. 

7. She ought to have got up on time. 

8. He oughtn't to give up till he tries. 

9. He ought to know, but he doesn't. 

10. Ought you to use Tom's towel? 

11. No, I oughtn't. 

12. They ought to be in school. 

13. I know that I ought to save money. 

14. The task ought not to have taken so long. 

15. Oughtn't you to stay at home? 

16. Yes, I ought. 



LESSON 44 

Letters 10 
Folding Letters 



For personal letters use envelopes that match your stationery. 
The sheet should fit the envelope when folded once. For busi- 
ness letters, proceed as follows : Bring the bottom of the sheet 
up even with the top, and press the fold flat. Then, beginning 
at the right, fold the sheet twice, so that there are three equal 
folds. See that the edges are even. The letter will slip easily 
into a business-size envelope. 

The Envelope 

Write the address neatly and plainly, with the name about 
the middle of the envelope. It is not necessary to use commas 



98 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

at the ends of lines, though some prefer to do so. The address 
on the envelope should be the same as that given at the head of 
the letter itself. 



After 5 days return to 

LOUIS A. HULL 
MONROE, MICHIGAN 




The Chalmers Mining Corporation 
469 Fifth Street 
Denver 

Colorado 



Exercise. Cut slips of paper into envelope size. Write the 
following addresses on these, giving your own return address 
in each case. 

1. Mr. William G. Shipley — 914 Market Street — San Francisco — 

California 

2. Standard Products Company — 406B — Cunard Building — Chi- 

cago — Illinois 

3. The Sanitary Tile Company — 440 East Fourth Street — Day- 

ton — Ohio 
4 Mr. J. L. Biesecker — Miles Building — Montreal — Canada 

5. The Keystone Building Company — 437 National Realty Build- 

ing — Los Angeles — California 

6. Walter Garland and Sons — Bellows Falls — Vermont 

7. Stewart and Foreman — 12 Nassau Street — New York City 

8. Hamilton, Crane, and Vollmer — 1102 Perido Building — New 

Orleans — Louisiana 

9. The Standard Cloak and Suit Company — 52 Western Avenue — 

Milwaukee — Wis . 

10. Miss Grace E. Underwood — The Tower School — Rochester — ■ 

New York 

11. Dr. Franklin B. Williams — Hotel Normandy — Paris — France 



TO ENGLISH 99 

LESSON 45 

Sentence Work 23 

Separate this account of "scrambling up the mountain" into 
sentences. One sentence has twenty words; another has only- 
five. Some of the sentences have one verb; some have two. 
Remember that sentences often begin with words like "beyond 
the hut," "for hours," "at every step." In four of the sentences 
there is a clause. 

Beyond the last little stone hut I took what had been pointed out to 
me as a short cut I picked out a faint trail and set out to scramble up 
the barren slope to the jagged peaks above for hours I clawed my way 
upward through the loose rocks my low shoes were filled with sand and 
snow I panted hard as I struggled up the steep slope at every step I 
slipped my head was growing dizzy every now and then I crossed a 
patch of ice where I had to crawl and clutch with my fingers I should 
have fallen hundreds of feet if I had slipped. 

Separate carefully into sentences the following account of 
"pretending to kill an Indian boy." One sentence has only four 
words; another has twenty. In six of the sentences you will 
find a little clause. In the others there is no clause. 

The old medicine man brought out a lance which had a very sharp 
point the point was so arranged that any little push would drive it 
back into the hollow handle of the lance he called all the Indians into 
his tent he told them that he was going to kill the boy and bring him 
back to life again the boy was trained to carry out the trick and fool 
the Indians the medicine man pressed the sharp point against the boy's 
breast the Indians thought that it went into his body the medicine 
mail slyly squeezed some blood out of a bag and made believe that it 
was the boy's blood the boy fell down and pretended to die then another 
medicine man began to sing a weird song up sprang the boy the Indians 
thought that he had been brought back to life by magic. 

Spelling 12 

Has the word "possessive been used in your class? It means 
the form of a noun made with an apostrophe: Mr. Brown's 
umbrella, Philip's marks, the day's work, a dollar's worth. 
There is nothing hard about putting an apostrophe and s on the 



100 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

end of a noun. Indeed it is so easy that a lesson in it might 
hardly seem worth while. 

And yet a majority of pupils seem to find it amazingly diffi- 
cult to use the apostrophe when they write compositions. They 
say, "Oh, gee! I forgot." No spelling lesson can make them 
remember. It can only say what the teacher says so many times 
"Don't forget the apostrophe and s." 

A spelling lesson can only repeat another thing that the teach- 
er often says: "Always make the singular possessive in the 
same way, the easy way — that is, by putting an apostrophe and 
s on the end of the noun. Don't change the noun. Don't do 
something else. Always do just that and no more. Simply add 
an apostrophe and s to the end of the word." 

Look each of the following nouns squarely in the eye, imag- 
ining while you look that you are in class. Imagine that the 
teacher has told you to go to the board and write the singular 
possessive. Can you do it? 

lady Archie Jones 

If you are not afraid to follow the rule, you can. 

lady's Archie's Jones's 

Try to keep your courage up. Use your will-power. Follow 
the rule: "Don't change anything. Just add 's to whatever 
noun you have." Even if you don't like the sound of Jones's — 
with an extra s — you can nerve yourself to write it that way. It 
is a good way, and much easier. With a steady hand, with wide- 
open eyes, advance on any noun you meet and attach 's to it. 

This lesson is all about singular nouns. You are to think of 
one lady, one Mr. Jones, one penny. The plurals are a very 
different story. They will come later. 

Make up a sentence of your own for each of the following 
nouns. Have the noun in the possessive case — like this, for the 
noun Dickens: "I have read only one of Dickens's novels." 

Arthur, Thomas, Nettie, Charles, thrush, canary, goose, fish, baby, 
Harrv 



TO ENGLISH 101 

LESSON 46 

Letters 11 

/70lYlcn£l AjLsfrfv A&Ji£b 
0(M&v IZ, /f^l 

AatZs /OAJL> ad^vcu £r sfLcustf (Tns <Ka£&run- 
JL'&rv. lite ^Urzuvvt . >&r JUzAse/ ^trmJL^ 

AJLTfLcut JCcr> cLc . cManX Aj^rus u^r^uXi^ 

Out XAlL ^jxa/utju **f<ru/ Jjitt^t Jfcc 








102 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Exercise. Write a neat and careful reply to Ray's letter. 
Imagine that he is your cousin, and that you really want to help 
him out. Tell about the entertainment at some party you have 
attended, making every explanation clear. 

When you have written the letter, fold it to envelope size, and 
write the address and the return address on the outside, placing 
them as you would on an envelope. 



LESSON 47 

Punctuation 1 

Notice the commas and the periods in these two sentences : 

1. Yes, you may go. 

2. No, it doesn't look rainy. 

A comma must be used after yes and no in answering questions. 
Notice the commas that are used with the names in the next 
three sentences: 

1. Walter, where are you going? 

2. What are you doing, sir? 

3. I told you, my dear fellow, never to do that. 

These three persons are being spoken to. A comma is put after 
Walter and before sir to show that the persons are being spoken 
to. A comma must come both before and after a noun that 
addresses a person when it stands in the middle of a sentence. 
Rewrite these twenty sentences, putting in the commas with 
yes and no, and with the nouns of address. Put a period at the 
end of every sentence that makes a statement. Put a question 
mark at the end of every sentence that asks a question. 

1. Where are you going Jean 

2. Whose hat is that 

3. Can't James run faster than that 

4. Don't you think Sam that we are going to lose 

5. How long will it be before the bell rings 
G. Where can my old sweater be 



TO ENGLISH 103 

7. Yes we had better keep our eyes open 

8. Don't put a question mark at the end of every sentence you 

write 

9. Can't you get permission to go Vera 

10. No Edward it's no use 

11. Yes Nell may go if she wants to 

12. What about that knife you said you would sell me 

13. May I borrow your eraser 

14. Yes sir you certainly may 

15. My son why don't you get better marks 

16. Tell Marie not to make so much noise 

17. Do you think anyone was speaking to Marie 

18. No there was no reason for a comma 

19. Come here Gordon as fast as ever you can 

20. Whv should anybody have anv trouble with these 



LESSON 48 

Written Composition 11 

In giving direct quotations most young people get into the 
habit of placing practically all of the said or asked words before 
the quotations. The use of this sentence-form makes a conver- 
sation sound stiff. If you look back at Violet's interview in 
Lesson 42, which is so good in other ways, you will notice that 
this is just what she did most of the time. Now look at the pas- 
sage about Gluck in Lesson 41. Where do the said words come 
in the sentences? Isn't this arrangement better? Yes, for it 
gives us some variety, and variety always helps interest. 

In Dickens's story, A Christmas Carol, we are told about a 
talk between old Scrooge, the miser, and the ghost of Marley, 
his former partner. The ghost has just informed old Scrooge 
that it has been traveling around all the time, but has not been 
able to reach Scrooge until this moment. 

"You must have been very slow about it, Jacob," Scrooge observed 
in a business-like manner. 
"Slow!" the ghost repeated. 
"Seven years dead," mused Scrooge. "And traveling all the time!" 



104 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

"The whole time," replied the ghost. "No rest, no peace. Incessant 
torture of remorse." 

"You travel fast?" inquired Scrooge. 

"On the wings of the wind," returned the ghost. 

"Y^ou might have got over a great quantity of ground in seven years," 
remarked Scrooge. 

Here you see that words which really tell something about 
how the person spoke are used in place of said and asked. You 
also see that these words do not come at the beginning of the 
sentence. Some of them come after the quotation; some of 
them come in the middle of it. These changes give us variety. 
That is what we must w T ork for in our own writing. 

Notice how the quotation marks are used in such a sentence 
as this, which has the said word in the middle of the quotation. 

'You young lunatics," grunted Sam, "had no business in that pas- 
ture while the cows were there." 

The said word is outside the quotation marks, for of course 
grunted Sam are not the words of the person wdio is quoted. 
We must always be careful about this point when we write 
direct quotations. 

Fix your eyes on the quotation mark after the word there. 
This is a mark to be very careful about. Some pupils forget to 
put in the mark at the end of the quotation. Don't be one of 
them. 

Exercise. Rewrite these sentences, making them into direct 
quotations. Use said w-ords that really tell something about 
how the speaker felt. Put some of the said words after the quo- 
tations, and put some of them in the middle. Look out for the 
quotation marks, especially those that come at the ends of the 
quotations. You may add or take aw- ay a few words if neces- 
sary. 

1. The chief said for his men to hurry up with the hose. 

2. The coach angrily jerked Chester to his feet, and said that he 

would have to do better tackling or get out. 

3. Mrs. Parks asked the ragged girl what she was doing out in the 

snow in her bare feet. 



TO ENGLISH 105 

4. "We asked Jeff if he didn't know that guinea-pigs had tails. 
.5. Old Tom told the neighbors that every hen caught in his garden 
would be made into soup in a hurry. 

6. Bryant said that it was easy to catch young alligators if you 

only had a little nerve. 

7. The Chinese student indignantly said that people in his coun- 

try don't eat rats. 

8. Two soldiers, running out of the alley, said that if we didn't 

stop we should be shot. 

9. Mrs. Spalding said that if Jake whipped that dog any more, she 

would have him arrested at once. 

10. They asked us what we thought about trying to get. a few water- 

melons before the moon came up. 

11. The woman asked if anybody had seen her baby. 

12. The Italian said that his brother was sailing for Europe. 

13. The major told his men to charge the retreating Indians im- 

mediately. 

14. I asked the farmer if he thought us foolish enough to pay such a 

price for a poor meal. 

15. One of the running policemen said for Andy to call a doctor as 

quickly as he could. 

16. The gatekeeper wanted to know why we didn't put the pony in 

the wagon and do the pulling ourselves. 



The Right Forms 12 

give — gave — have or has given 

1. I gave you my notebook. 

2. Have I given you a pen? 

3. You gave me a pencil. 

4. She gave her dress away. 

5. She has given the right answer. 

6. He gave up his chair. 

7. We gave Mother a present. 

8. I have given you my ticket. 

9. Have you given him any candy? 

10. We gave him what was left. 

11. W T ho gave you this book? 

12. It was given to me last week. 

13. We should be given more time. 



106 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

14. He had given up in despair. 

15. We gave him a dollar. 

16. The ice gave way. 

17. The farmer gave us our dinner. 

18. I gave you all I had. 

19. Could I have given any more? 

20. Has he given you a receipt? 



LESSON 48 A 



Sentence Work 24 
Notice the words that come before the subject in these 
sentences : 

1. Suddenly the whistle blew. 

2. At last the noise stopped. 

3. By the end of the hour we were very tired. 

4. In a dirty leather bag at the farther end of the draicer we found the 

pen. 

5. Into the Christmas box that ice sent him I put a note. 

Sentences often begin with words like at, by, in, on, over. 
Sentences often begin with clauses. Notice the comma after 
the clause. 

1. When the boy fell doicn, the Indians thought he was dead. 

2. // / go, I shall need some money. 

3. While I was eating breakfast, the doctor came. 

Rewrite this description of Dr. Heidegger's queer study. In 
every sentence there are some words or a clause before the sub- 
ject. Put a comma after any clause. 

If all the stories were true Dr. Heidegger's study must have been a 
queer place around the walls stood several oak bookcases on these 
were some huge black volumes and some little white ones over the 
center case was a bronze statue in the darkest corner of the room stood 
a tall and narrow oak chest when the door of this stood open you could 
see a skeleton between two of the bookcases hung a looking-glass in 
this glass the doctor could see the spirits of his patients who had died 



TO ENGLISH 107 

more wonderful than the mirror was a great black book with heavy 
silver clasps one day when the maid lifted this the skeleton rattled in 
the closet. 

Rewrite this account of how Rip Van Winkle carried a keg 
for a stranger. Some of the sentences begin with the subject; 
some do not. 

Rip was much surprised to meet a stranger in this lonely place he was 
a short and square-built old fellow with bushy hair and grizzled beard 
he was dressed in the old Dutch fashion on his shoulder he carried a 
stout keg that seemed full when he saw Rip he made a sign for help 
Rip took the load and followed the stranger up a rocky ravine as they 
climbed Rip every now and then heard peals that sounded like distant 
thunder he supposed that the sounds came from some thunder storm 
at the top of the ravine they came to a hollow that was surrounded 
by steep hills there a strange sight met Rip's eyes a company of solemn 
old Dutch graybeards were playing nine-pins. 



LESSON 49 

Spelling 13 



Do you suppose that everyone in your class could spell cor- 
rectly every word in Spellings 1 and 2 if you now reviewed them 
a second time? Probably some words would be spelled wrong 
again in the same old way. Review carefully Spelling 1, page 
22, and Spelling 2, page 31. 

Sentence Work 25 
Notice the three-word verbs in these sentences. 

1. Our house has been sold. 

2. In the attic some queer things could bs found. 

3. I shall be promoted in February. 

4. These pencils must be sharpened. 

5. Have you been going there lately? 

There may even be four words in a verb. 

1. The wagon could have been loaded more carefully. 

2. Why should I have been suspected? 



108 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Find every verb in the following sentences, and find its sub- 
ject by asking, "Who or what?" In some sentences there are 
two verbs. Be sure to get the whole of a verb like might have 
been burned. Do not put in words like up, down, over, under, big. 

1. Down came the flag at sunset. 2. As soon as the squall was 
seen, the sails were furled. 3. Have you been having any luck lately? 
4. That truck has gone by our house every day this week. 5. If I 
have to punish you again, you will be sorry. 6. All night I had been 
sitting by his bedside. 7. The puppy crawled under the fence. 
8. He must have climbed up by a ladder. 9. May we borrow a 
dozen spoons? 10. Don't you think the oranges could have been 
bought for a smaller price? 11. If I had only known about the alley, 
I could have escaped. 12. In this vault lived seven bats. 13. Louis 
had been under a great strain. 14. Do you care to look over my 
shoulder? 15. The painting is worth several thousand dollars. 
16. The propeller-blades will be coated with varnish. 17. Across the 
road is a garage. 18. Do you suppose that he has been offended? 
19. Mount Everest had never been climbed. 20. In my purse were 
only two small coins. 21. His cold might have been cured if he had 
taken care of it early. 22. As I looked down the long shaft, I trembled. 
23. High overhead, soaring in lonely state, was an eagle. 



LESSON 50 

Oral Composition 12 



Suppose that you are a reporter going after an interview. 
(It may be that the best interview will be good enough to pub- 
lish in the school paper.) Question some older person on this 
point: Would it be a good thing for pupils to be required to 
attend school for a six- week summer term? We ought to get 
together some very interesting opinions on this subject. Think 
the matter over, and prepare several questions to begin and 
carry on the conversation. After the interview write up your 
notes at once. 

Practice aloud before coming to class. Remember the said 
words that put life into a conversation. Put some of them 
after the quotation and some in the middle of it. 



TO ENGLISH 109 

Spelling 14 

Have you thought that the study of spelling is nearly all 
review? Almost all the words that you have had in this book 
you had several years ago. Still the class doesn't know them. 
We go over them and over them again, but some pupils fail. 
No school has ever reviewed spelling too much. For today 
review Spellings 3, page 41, and 7, page 65. We can have 
some variety by skipping Spelling 4 for the present. 



LESSON 50 A 

Sentence Work 26 

Divide this description of "the power of water" into sen- 
tences. Don't forget to put a question mark at the end of any 
question. 

You know that a stream from a fire-hose will knock a man down 
do you know that a stronger stream from a bigger hose can tear down 
a great hill in a day I will tell you a true story to show how strong a 
stream can be once in the Rocky Mountains a soldier tried to cut 
with his saber the jet of water that was coming out of a two-inch 
hose the water had fallen a thousand feet and was shooting out of 
the nozzle with terrific force with all his might the soldier struck 
what do you suppose happened his saber was snapped in two as if it 
had landed on a bar of steel can you guess what else happened the 
soldier's wrist was broken. 

Here is a true story of Lincoln's troubles with spelling. Sepa- 
rate it into sentences. 

At first President Lincoln said he would speak about my case to 
the Secretary of War then he said he would write a note after he had 
been writing a few seconds he turned to me and asked how to spell 
obstacle he wanted to know if there was an a in it when he saw 
how embarrassed I was he put down his pen and began talking he 
said that sometimes the very common words bothered him all his 
life he had misspelled one short word I asked what that was can you 
believe me when I tell you that it was very? he used to put two 



110 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

r's in it another word that he wrote wrong until he got into the White 
House was opportunity he had to learn to put two o's in it Lincoln 
never had any trouble with too he could always put two o's in 
that word. 



LESSON 51 

Written Composition 12 

Here is one more fact to learn. Be sure to get it well in mind, 
because it is important for your written work. Perhaps you 
have noticed it already. In conversation, each direct quotation, 
no matter how short, is in a paragraph by itself. Of course, this 
point makes no difference in giving conversations orally. But 
wdien you come to write them, it makes a great deal of differ- 
ence. Remember this. In dialog every quotation is considered a 
paragraph. If you want to see how such an arrangement looks, 
turn back to some of the passages of conversation which you 
have studied. 

Exercise. Write up the interview about summer-school in 
proper composition form. Try to make your work correct 
enough and lively enough to be printed in the school paper. 
Watch three things. 

1. Don't let any said words get inside quotation marks. 
%. Don't forget the marks at the end of a quotation. 
3. Put every speech in a paragraph by itself. 



LESSON 51 A 

Written Composition 13 

Mr. and Mrs. Herrin live in a little town of only forty-three 
people, w r here very little that is exciting ever happens. Yet one 
morning they suddenly found themselves famous. Their pic- 
ture and the picture of their house, which you see on the next 
page, has been distributed all over the country. 



TO ENGLISH 



111 







A HOUSE THAT SUDDENLY BECAME FAMOUS 



112 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Here is a chance for you to use your imagination. Fancy 
how Mr. and Mrs. Herrin felt when they saw some men placing 
the marker before their door. Imagine what they thought 
and what they said about this strange occurrence. Then write 
up the events and the dialog in the form of a brief story, the 
story of the day the Herrins became famous. Be careful of the 
paragraphing and punctuation of the dialog. Try to make 
the people seem real and interesting. 



LESSON 52 

Spelling 15 



If, some fine day, every pupil in the high schools of America 
could learn to spell coming, the schoolboards would declare a 
holiday in every town and city. There is small chance of such 
a holiday. There are about 150,000 young people in the 
seventh grade, and another 150,000 in the eighth, who can not 
spell coming. But perhaps there are better times ahead, when 
coming will never have more than one m in it, and no vowels 
except o and L 

If you want to learn to spell words like shining and writing 
and dining and coming, here is the recipe: Remove the e; then 
add ing. The whole secret is in getting rid of the e. 

Try the verb hope. Strike at the e and smash it with one 
blow. Then bring up an ing. You will find that the ing will 
stick fast. There you are -.hoping. 

If you strike off the e of scare and add ing, you have scaring. 
If you demolish the e of use and add ing, you have using. Any- 
one who practices constantly will find his skill increasing so 
much that he can even take a verb like argue and make 

arguing 

made pursuing without ai 
e in it 



arguing 
out of it. Some pupils have actually made pursuing without 



TO ENGLISH 113 

People are generally afraid of e and will not knock it off. Yet 
in the high schools there are occasionally students who learn to 
write argument with only one e. They have even been known 
to write truly without an e, and ninth. Take a piece of paper 
and see if you can do that. 

Sentence Work 27 

Notice how these italicized words — little clauses — fit in as 
parts of sentences. 

1. The bees which flew out of the hive were angry. 

2. The woman who gave me a dollar was surely generous. 

3. She did not see the dust that was under the sofa. 

4. I asked him what he meant. 

We cannot make statements with words like who and which. 
Such groups of words are not sentences. 
A mere little clause may be very long. 

which are built in queer and fantastic shapes, usually of bamboo, 
with a covering of gold and silver paper and many bright- 
colored bits of cloth. 

A complete sentence may be very short. 
What is that? 

Now learn a queer thing about the English language. If we 
change just one word in that long clause, we shall have a good 
sentence. If we put they in place of which, we shall have a 
complete statement that can stand by itself. There is a world 
of difference between they and which. There is the same world 
of difference between it and which, or between he and who. The 
pronouns he, she, it, they, these, those, make complete sentences. 
The other kinds of pronouns — like who and which — never can 
make complete statements. If they ask questions— like ''Which 
is the best?" — they form sentences. 

Decide which of the following groups of words are really 
sentences and which are just clauses. 



114 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

1. Which is better? 2. Which was found under a big stone. 
3. Who had never in his life told a lie. 4. Who told a lie about a 
cherry-tree? 5. Which shall I take? 6. What he said. 7. That 
I had eaten for breakfast that morning. 8. WTiat we saw under 
the bridge after the flood. 9. What did you see? 10. Who fre- 
quently bought a ticket and threw it into the waste-basket. 11. Who 
can tell? 12. That we ran into one night during a howling snow- 
storm. 13. What is wrong? 14. Who was holding the sack. 
15. Which never could have happened to any careful person in our 
part of the United States. 16. That you sometimes hear in the 
middle of the night during a high wind. 17. Who can? 18. What 
he earned last summer by seventy days of hard work in the heat and 
din of a big foundry at Ansonia. 19. That the doctor found in one 
of the bones of my left wrist by the use of his new X-ray machine. 



The Right Forms 13 

ring — rang — have or has rung 

1. The bell rang. 

2. Did he ring the bell? 

3. Somebody rang it. 

4. It shouldn't have been rung so early. 

5. The bell rang long ago. 

6. Has the first bell rung yet? 

7. It rang at nine. 

8. Last year they rang it fifteen minutes earlier. 

9. Have you rung the dinner bell? 

10. These walls have rung with laughter. 

11. His voice rang out over the field. 

12. WTio said the last bell had rung? 

13. It rang just before you came in. 

14. He has rung this bell for forty years . 

15. Wliere were you when it rang? 

16. It was rung for the last time. 

17. It rang ten minutes late. 

18. The Christmas bells were rung. 

19. They rang out loud and clear. 

20. Who heard it when it rang? 



TO ENGLISH 115 

LESSON 53 

Written Composition 14 

Some people go around half asleep. They have eyes and ears 
and noses, but for all the use they make of these organs to help 
them enjoy life, they might almost as well be without them. 
If you want your eyes and ears to "grow up," learn to use them. 
Form the habit of noticing things. Be interested in the objects 
and people around you. 

Sometimes, if we look closely, we can see moving pictures in 
the life about us. The pen is better than the camera for these, 
for it can put the movement into words. Besides, it can give 
us something to hear, and suggest feelings, too, such as excite- 
ment, happiness, or fear. If you sit still for a little while in a 
park or in the woods, you will be likely to see a moving picture 
that is worth putting into language. 

Here is a little moving picture presented by a school-girl. 
The picture changes in a flash, but a quick ear and an active eye 
have caught it before it vanishes. Guess ! 

One of Hiawatha's brothers paused a minute to taste a frozen 
apple beneath a wild-apple tree. As he sat there in the pale winter 
sunlight, his furry coat gleamed golden brown and gray, touched 
with black. As he daintily nibbled at his breakfast, he occasionally 
sat upright to listen. His great bright eyes seemed to observe every- 
thing. His long, delicately pointed ears were strained to catch the 
slightest sound. Suddenly a twig snapped in the tangle of raspberry 
bushes. There was a streak of gray and brown, and a flash of white. 
The next instant nothing remained at the foot of the wild-apple 
tree except a nibbled apple and the traces of dainty paws. 

Exercise. Write a short description of a few seconds in the 
life of some wild or tame animal. Pick a moment when some- 
thing is happening that is worth watching. Then use words 
that make us see, hear, and feel. 

Spelling 16* 
Review Spelling 9, page 73. 

*Note: Throughout the rest of Part I the spelling assignments are all review. Teachers 
who wish to introduce other common words in this year's work will find in Part II the material 
that is most needed. 



116 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON 54 

Spelling 17 
Review Spelling 11, page 87. 

Letters 12 
Write one of the letters required in the following list. If you 
are in doubt about any part of the letter or any mark of punc- 
tuation that you should use, turn again to the model on page 68. 
Be sure that everything is right. Write neatly and plainly. 
Don't ramble along; come right to the point of the assignment. 

1. A friend in another town is thinking of joining the Boy Scouts, 
the Girl Scouts, or the Campfire Girls, and asks your advice. Write 
a letter in which you advise joining. Give your reasons. You will 
do better work if you think of a real person whom you know. 

2. A friend living in the country writes to you that he wants 
to come to town and go to a movie play with you some time during 
the present week. After looking up the picture advertisements, write 
him a letter telling him which night you think will be best. 

3. Write to a friend or relative, telling briefly some peculiar hap- 
pening of a recent Saturday or holiday. 

4. Write a letter to a former classmate, telling about a school pro- 
gram in which some people whom he knows have taken part. Make 
it seem real and lively. This subject gives you a good chance to be 
humorous and original. 

5. Suppose that you and your cousin have been invited to take 
Thanksgiving dinner in the country. Y^ou have enjoyed the dinner, 
but your cousin has been prevented from going. Write a letter 
telling him what he has missed. Try to make his mouth water. 



LESSON 54 A 

Written Composition 15 
Look carefully at the picture on page 117. An eagle's 
wings and talons take these remarkable positions at the mo- 
ment of striking prey. Why is the camera man at the top 
of this tree? Why is the eagle attacking him? What do you 
suppose happened during the next five seconds? Your an- 
swers will prepare you for the Exercise on page 118. 



TO ENGLISH 



117 



tmgs^^jm^^m^^^jmmmj^mjmg^gg^^^^^P 




118 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Exercise. Write a three-paragraph story about the adventure 
of the camera operator. Make the reader know just how the 
man felt, as well as what happened to him. The whole time 
covered bv the storv need not be more than a minute. 



LESSON 55 

Written Composition 16 

No doubt some of you occasionally get rather tired of school. 
How would you like to go to a school like the one conducted by 
Mr. Squeers, which Dickens tells about in Nicholas Nickleby? 
After you read about how Mr. Squeers taught his boys grammar 
and spelling, you may think yourself lucky. 

Obedient to this summons, there ranged themselves in front of the 
schoolmaster's desk half a dozen scarecrows, out at knees and elbows, 
one of whom placed a torn and filthy book beneath his learned eye. 

"This is the first class in English spelling and philosophy, Nickleby," 
said Squeers, beckoning Nicholas to stand beside him. "We'll get 
up a Latin one, and hand that over to you. Now, then, where's 
the first boy?" 

"Please, sir, he's cleaning the back-parlor window," spoke up the 
temporary head of the class. 

"So he is, to be sure," rejoined Squeers. "We go upon the practical 
mode of teaching, Nickleby; the regular education system. C-1-e-a-n, 
clean, verb active, to make bright, to scour. W-i-n, win, d-e-r, der, 
winder, a casement. When the boy knows this out of a book, he 
goes and does it. It's just the same principle as the use of the globes. 
Where's the second boy?" 

"Please, sir, he's weeding the garden," replied a small voice. 

"To be sure," returned Squeers, by no means disconcerted. "So 
he is. B-o-t, bot, t-i-n, tin, bottin, n-e-y, ney, bottiney, noun sub- 
stantive, a knowledge of plants. When he has learned that bottiney 
means a knowledge of plants, he goes and knows 'em. That's our 
system, Nickleby; what do you think of it?" 

"It's a very useful one, at any rate," answered Nicholas. 

"I believe you," rejoined Squeers, not remarking the emphasis 
of his usher. "Third boy, what's a horse?" 

"A beast, sir," replied the boy. 



TO ENGLISH 119 

"So it is," said Squeers. "Ain't it, Nickleby?"- 

"I believe there is no doubt of that, sir," answered Nicholas. 

"Of course there isn't," agreed Squeers. "A horse is a quadruped, 
and quadruped's Latin for beast, as everybody that's gone through 
the grammar knows, or else where's the use of having grammars at all?" 

"Where, indeed!" repeated Nicholas, abstractedly. 

"As you are perfect in that," resumed Squeers, turning to the boy, 
"go and look after my horse, and rub him down well, or I'll rub you 
down. The rest of the class go and draw water up till somebody tells 
you to leave off, for it's washing-day tomorrow, and they want the 
coppers filled." 

So saying, he dismissed the first class to their experiments in practical 
philosophy, and eyed Nicholas with a look, half cunning and half 
doubtful. 

Notice where the said words are placed in the account of 
Squeers with his class. Some of them come after the quotations, 
of course. Some come in the middle, and divide a quotation into 
two parts. 

Study the paragraphs. You can see that there is a separate 
paragraph for every speech. 

Examine the following quotations. Notice closely the words 
that are left outside the quotation marks. 

1. "I think," croaked the bullfrog to the muskrat, '^that you rats 
are entirely too conceited." 

2. '-'Why in the world," muttered Jasper, "do people insist on 
carrying all their eggs in one basket?" 

3. "If you will only listen," Marcia continued, "I'll show you how 
you two have made the biggest mistake of your lives." 

The said words are always outside the quotation marks. 

Exercise. Copy the following sentences, putting in the quo- 
tation marks that are needed. 

1. If you should ask me, observed the corporal, I'd tell you that 

you had cold feet. 

2. Now, Rastus, explained the judge, you must either plead 

guilty or not guilty. 

3. Well, Judge, stammered the dusky prisoner who was accused 

of stealing chickens, jist wait till Ah heahs de evidence. 



120 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

4. After you get inside the gate, Clyde continued in a lower tone, 

you had better take off your shoes. 

5. If I ever catch you on this side of the fence again, threatened 

Brodie, shaking his big, hairy fist under our noses, I'll 
make fish-bait o' both of you. 
6- If that duck comes out on this side, chuckled the old fox to 
himself, I know w T hat'll be on the bill of fare for tonight. 

7. The only thing that saved me, Dan concluded, as he removed 

his soaked boots, was that little willow stick. 

8. Very well, Mr. Fraser, interposed the driver, but where's 

my money to come from? 

9. If I had thought, returned Miss Brooks, I should never have 

spoken to her at all. 

10. Speak low, he replied, gripping me by the shoulder, for you 

can't tell who may be listening behind that hedge. 

11. You fellows down here, I said, trying my best to hold my 

temper, have a curious idea of hospitality to strangers. 

12. When he sticks his head out, whispered Meagher, between 

clenched teeth, you aim for the light spot of hair just below 
his jaw. 

13. Yes, Doctor Harris, the lawyer answered, replacing in his 

lapel the pin with which he had been punching the paper, I 
will undertake the job on the terms you offer. 

14. Don't go down there, screamed the boy, shaking with terror, 

because that Frenchman's ghost may be waiting for you! 

15. Where in this town, thought Loren, as he sauntered along the 

lane, could you find a meaner man to work for than old 
Crawfish Sullivan? 



LESSON 55 A 



Oral Composition 13 

You can remember some games that you used to play when 
you were a little younger than you are now; perhaps you can 
recall one that was peculiar, an odd invention of your own. 

Plan to have an oral composition program in which each pupil 
will talk on "some unusual game." If you cannot think of a 
subject which you like, you may use one of those suggested 
on the next page. 



TO ENGLISH 121 

1. The boys (or girls) I used to play with 

2. Troubles of the youngest in the family 

3. When we played circus 

4. After the Wild West show 

5. My movie ambitions 

6. Movie stars whom I have admired 

7. Imitating grown-up folks 

8. Playing Indian 

9. Things I used to imagine 
10. The youngsters on our street 



LESSON 56 

Written Composition 17 

Read this paragraph aloud. After you have reached the 
third sentence, can you tell which woman is speaking? 

About noon an old woman brought Mrs. Weston a chunk of coarse 
bread and a gourd filled with water. She asked her if she was tired 
after the terrible journey, and she replied that she was wearied almost 
to death. Then she told her that she had heard one of the soldiers 
say that the prisoners were to be examined that evening. She only 
said that it would probably be soon. Then she went out of the hut, 
saying that she would be back again in a few minutes. 

One good thing about the use of direct quotations is that it 
helps us to know who is speaking. In reading the passage above, 
it is impossible to tell what person is meant by she and her. 
Of course, we might use the names instead. This arrangement 
does make the meaning plain. 

About noon an old woman brought Mrs. Weston a chunk of coarse 
bread and a gourd filled with water. The old woman asked Mrs. 
Weston if Mrs. W T eston was tired after the terrible journey, and Mrs. 
Weston replied that she (Mrs. Weston) was wearied almost to dea f h. 
Then Mrs. Weston told the old woman that she (Mrs. Weston) had 
heard one of the soldiers say that the prisoners were to be examined 
that evening. The old woman only said that it would probably be 
soon. Then the old woman went out of the hut, saying that she 
(the old woman) would be back in a few minutes. 



122 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Of course, such repetition is silly. We do not need to write 
in that way to make ourselves understood. We can use direct 
quotations instead. 

Exercise. Write out the dialog between Mrs. Weston and 
the old woman, turning the indirect quotations into direct 
quotations. Watch these five points. 

1. Use a variety of said words. 

2. Put some of them after the quotation and some in the 
middle. 

3. Make the talk sound like the talk of real people. 

4. Be sure that every quotation mark is right. 

5. Put each speech in a paragraph by itself. 

The Right Forms 14 
sing — sang — have cr has sung 

1. He sang for us. 

2. The glee club sang two songs. 

3. They have never sung better. 

4. I have heard that piece sung before. 

5. Who sang it? 

6. Our class sang it. 

7. Has it been sung often? 

8. They have sung the first two stanzas. 

9. You should have sung the chorus again. 

10. W T e all sang "America." 

11. The first hymn has been sung. 

12. They sang two ballads. 

13. Both had been sung before. 

14. The bird sang to his mate. 

15. Has the canary sung lately? 

16. He sang a little yesterday. 

17. Have they sung the class song? 

18. They sang it at the party. 

19. She has not sung for over a year. 



TO ENGLISH 123 

LESSON 57 

Spelling 18 

Review Spelling 12, page 99. 

Written Composition 18 

A school-girl wrote this description of an animal. She did 
not tell what it was, for she wanted to see how many of her 
classmates could guess right. Can you name the animal? 

This animal is found only in northern climates, where the weather 
is very cold. It is small, with a thin, slender body, similar to that 
of a mink. In summer it is reddish-brown in color. In winter it 
turns as white as snow, and would not be seen on the snow if it were 
not for the tail, which is jet-black. The animal is of a bloodthirsty 
nature, and delights in killing birds, mice, and other small creatures 
for the pleasure of killing. Long ago kings and noblemen used to 
wear costly robes made of the fur of this animal. The black tails 
would be arranged on the white background in the form of a coat of 
arms or some other design. 

Exercise. Write a careful description of a pet you have 
owned. Don't tell what species of animal it is. When you read 
your theme aloud, the members of the class will guess. Perhaps 
one paragraph will be enough. Don't write more than two. 




LESSON 57 A 
Sentence Work 28* 



Notice in the following six sentences how where and when and 
why and hoio and whether and if make clauses. 

1. We asked the plumber where Finland was. 

2. When you multiply by 10, you simply add a zero. 

*Note: The sentence work indicated as "A" lessons from here on is suitable for seventh- 
year pupils who are well grounded in the more elementary exercises, but should not be under- 
taken by those who are at all slow or backward. 



124 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

3. I don't see why he paints it white. 

4. You can't see how he does it. 

5. Tell me whether you had a good time. 

6. They won't see us if we keep quiet. 

We may ask a question with words like where. 

1. Where is Finland? 

2. Why does he paint it white? 

3. How does he do it? 



These questions are complete sentences. But we cannot 
make statements with such words. Groups of words like 
"where Finland was" or "how he does it" are not sentences. 

Which of the following groups of words are complete sen- 
tences? Which ones are simply clauses? Remember that 
exercises of this kind are partly a review. Remember the 
"who, which, what, and that" clauses. 

1. Whether Julius and I might go to the circus. 2. How can that 
be? 3. Which Horace worked at with all his might and main during 
the whole day. 4. When will the doors be opened? 5. Why he 
never could catch a trout with his expensive outfit. 6. Why should 
I worry about the little wheels on the big truck? 7. How do you do? 
8. When you have been trying for five minutes to get the small hole 
of a stiff collar over the large head of a gold button. 9. How a man 
could ever have thought of a way to measure the height of the moun- 
tains on the moon. 10. Of course no man has ever been on the moon. 
11. You should not expect to find a clause in every sentence. 12. We 
must think what we are doing. 13. Where is Joppa? 14. If 
you had never learned in arithmetic to invert the divisor and multiply. 
15. Which you won't feel at all in the dentist's chair. 16. You 
won't feel it at all. 17. That an artist can actually make a plaster 
cast from a living model. 18. Who went with you? 19. That look 
like strings of the most beautiful pearls. 20. How it would ever 
be possible to use a six-story garage. 21. Where any animal would 
die of suffocation in a few seconds. 22. No agents need apply. 
23. You feel like a polar bear in a flower-garden. 24. Why a sea- 
gull should fly a thousand miles for a few scraps of food. 25. There 
is no reason. 



TO ENGLISH 125 

LESSON 58 

Spelling 19 
Review Spelling 15, page 112. 

Letters 13 

Write to the Clark and No well Publishing Company, 2114 
Main Street, Bedford, Mass., requesting a three-month trial 
subscription to the magazine, Our Young People. Mention 
the fact that you are inclosing twenty-five cents in stamps, the 
trial-subscription price. Be sure that every part of the letter 
is right. 

Fold this letter to envelope size, and indorse the outside as 
if it were an envelope. 

The Right Forms 15 

break — broke — have or has broken 

1. He broke his arm. 

2. He has broken his pencil. 

3. Who has broken this glass? 

4. It was broken when I came. 

5. Has she broken through the ice? 

6. You have broken a promise. 

7. The bird has a broken wing. 

8. How was it broken? 

9. Did you find it broken? 

10. Another record was broken today. 

11. This school has broken two records. 

12. The cart had broken down. 

13. She has broken her skates. 

14. I had broken my racket. 

15. Did you say he had broken his crystal? 

16. Who broke the old china plate? 

17. Glass is easily broken. 

18. Smallpox has broken out. 



126 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON 58 A 

Spelling 20 

Review the first four Spellings on pages 22, 31, 41, and 
47. Some of your classmates have not mastered all of these 
words, but you can master every one if you really care to. If 
you keep thinking about any troublesome word, reviewing it 
for yourself, writing it out in sentences, and thinking of w T ays to 
remember it, you can conquer it. Mark every such enemy. 
Put him down in a special list. Don't let him make fun of you. 
Destroy him. 

Sentence Work 29 

Such words as doing, repeating, seeing, cutting are not verbs. 
They cannot, by themselves, make statements. The following 
groups of words are not sentences : 

1. unloading the cars by means of a big crane reaching clear 

across the railroad tracks. 

2. blowing two bubbles at once by using this little flat strainer 

instead of a big, clumsy pipe. 

We could build up a very long group by using "ing" words and 
prepositions — like this : 

blowing through a little hose running from his mouth to the two 
cans and thus forcing the vapor from one can into another can. 

This group does not really say anything, because there is no 
verb in it. If we should put a little "he is" at the beginning, 
we should have a sentence. The little words like is and am 
and was are powerful sentence-makers. But the "ing" words 
are weak and helpless. The "ing" words alone cannot make 
sentences. 

Neither can the "to" words — like to go, to feel, to be, to in- 
vent — make sentences. See if you can find any verb in the 
group on the top of the next page. 



TO ENGLISH 127 

to wait in the huckleberry patch after picking busily all afternoon 
and not to know any way of getting home to supper except by walking 
seven miles over the hills. 

There is no verb. The group of words has not made a state- 
ment. No combination of "ing" words and "to" words can 
make a statement. 

Decide w T hich of the following groups are sentences, which 
ones are mere clauses, and which ones are neither sentences 
nor clauses. 

1. Trying to make himself popular by wearing expensive clothes. 
2. A picture of a man wearing a stiff stand-up collar, a plain black 
tie, and an immense three-cornered hat. 3. Then came a flock of 
starlings. 4. To get into a quarrel with the umpire about a per- 
fectly correct decision on a foul over the third-base line. 5. That 
he had been holding some gum in his cheek all during the recitation. 
6. Merely glancing now and then at Jennie and tapping his glass 
in a dreamy kind of way. 7. Leaning back in his chair and balancing 
on the two hind legs was a favorite trick of his. 8. That she could 
walk into a cage of snarling tigers with only a little whip in one hand 
and an electric flash-light in the other. 9. After whispering a few 
minutes with the priest on the porch he was let into the mission 
church. 10. By creeping over the slimy rocks on his hands and 
knees and crawling through the dense thicket of juniper bushes. 
11. A faint glow coming from the dull glass panels on each side of 
the padlocked door. 12. Stepping smartly down the gang-plank 
was a Moroccan prince. 13. Who never in his life had had to carry so 
much as a toothpick or to worry about paying his own bills. 14. To 
go to Paris and to see all the boulevards and beautiful bridges 
and parks. 15. Knowing perfectly well how to place a harpoon 
in just the right part of the whale's great body. 16. Gripping the 
handle of the dagger with nervous fear and peering excitedly through 
the chink in the wall of leaves. 17. Which never would have hap- 
pened among the Greeks of ancient times. 18. Not to want any 
amusement except to lie on a sand-hill for a sun-bath. 19. Feeling 
too sure about when the train goes, without looking up a time-table, 
may get you into trouble. 20. With his back toward the girl on the 
railing and his feet on a handsome upholstered chair. 21. That is 
the one. 22. Hoping that the sun would continue to shine, and 
thinking it would not take him long to go. 23. When James reaches 
home tonight. 24. W 7 ho said that? 25. To hear the soft lapping 
of the waves on the rocks. 



128 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON 59 

Oral Composition 14 

How many birds do you know when you see them? How 
many can you describe so that your hearers can recognize each 
one the next time they see it ? How many birds have you read 
about, or seen pictures of, but never seen? Make two lists, the 
first containing the names of all birds you have seen, and the 
second containing the names of those you have read about or 
seen pictures of. 

How many have you in both lists? Who has the longest list ? 
Compare notes. 

Exercise. Give oral comparisons of the following birds, ex- 
plaining the like and unlike qualities and habits. 

1. An eagle and a hawk 5. A wren and a chickadee 

2. A blue jay and a bluebird 6. An American meadow-lark 

3. A crow and a blackbird and an English skylark 

4. A turtle dove and a common 7. A flicker and a red-headed 

pigeon woodpecker 



LESSON 59 A 

Written Composition 19 

Some of our English work is really fun. Did you ever try to 
make a bird newspaper, such as you imagine birds might make 
and read if they really had the human qualities they show in 
fables and fairy stories? The fun of it is that you can use your 
imagination and originality to make the paper entertaining. 
If anyone in the class can use a typewriter, it will be a good 
plan to type your newspaper. 

Perhaps the specimen of a bird newspaper on page 129 will 
give you some suggestions as to how to go about the work. 

Make your exercise on page 130 really entertaining. 



TO ENGLISH 



129 



May SO 



THE TREETOP GAZETTE 
Published every week or two 



The Cardinal PreaB 



MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE 

Well-known young woman vanishes 
I. HOOT MAKES STATEMENT 

Miss Goldie Finoh, Tell known to 
everyone in Treetop, mysteriously disap- 
peared yesterday. Persons who saw her 
about noon say that she seemed well, and 
talked just as usual. Jim Crow, the oon- 
stable, has tried hard to find a reason 
for her leaving. No clue has yet turned 
up. 

Mr. I. Hoot, night-olerk at the Hollow 
Snag Hotel, which is operated by Hen 
Hawk, says that he saw Miss Finch come 
into the hotel lobby about dusk last 
evening. After he had eaten his supper, 
Mr. Hoot says, she was nowhere to he 
seen. 

Many friends of the family hope that 
the sad mystery may be cleared up soon. 



THE PASTIME MOVE THEATER 

Last time tonight — Four Feathers . 

Starting tomorrow— -Jack Daw, the 
famous English actor, 

in Broken Pinions. 



CHEAP! cheap! cheap! 

Grooeriea of all kinds. Come in and 
take your pick from our splendid etook 
of bird-seed. Dressed grasshoppers and 
oriokets. 

Philip A. Sparrow 



<s£ 



ALWAYS ROBIN AND CO. 
Pawnbrokers 
When broke, look up a broker. 



BOXING MATCH 
Bob White, light-weight ohampion of 
Brush Patch vs. Jack Snipe, of Mud Creek 
Come early and see a good fast bout. 
Opera House, Wednesday night. 



Local Items 
Miss 3ee Marten of Poleville is visting 
relatives here. 

Sam Partridge, the Jolly Drummer from 
Hickory Hollow, made a flying visit to 
Treetop today. He says business is 
booming. 



Notice! 
I will not be responsible for any debts 
made by my wife. Chick Ady 



A. SHRIKE LAWYER 

Do business with me, and you will nev- 
or want to employ another lawyer. 



0. U. QUACK PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON 

I am a busy man. Have your check-book 
ready when you call me. 



YELLOWHAMMER BROTHERS, GROCERS 

All kinds of bugs and worms, fresh 
from the wood. Choice creeping things 
in season. Open a bill here. 



Bob 0. Link has just returned from 
trip to the south. He says it is fine 
to see the old town again after being 
away all winter. Weloome back, Bob. 



The Yellow Wings to Leave 

Mr. and Mrs. Yellow Wing and family, 
who have been spending some weeks here, 
will leave early Wednesday morning for 
the Canary Islands. 



LECTURE AT 0AEW00D HALL Friday 
The noted British author, Miss Ima 
Cuckoo, will leoture on the subjeot 
"India love for England." Miss Cuokoo 
has lately published some new material 
on the history of the famous Cook Robin 
murder case. 



Hen Hawk states that the Hollow Snag 
Hotel is soon to be remodeled. The name 
is to be changed to AWKUMAWN INN. 



JAY AND JAY— FURNITURE 

Feather your nest here. Don't go else- 
where to be skinned. Come to us. 



Miss Renn Siok 
Miss Jennie Renn is down with the 
chicken-pox. Friends hope for speedy 
recovery. 



A HIGH FLYER 
Captain Teal, the famous aviator, 
passed over Treetop last night on his 
reoord-breaking flight from Florida to 
Canada. He made a landing at Round 
Lake, it is said, and continued his 
flight today. His motor seemed to be 
working well, and he seemed confident 
of finishing hi3 trip without aocident. 



Too Much Knocking 
Mr. Wood Pecker, who has been knock- 
ing around the country for the past six 
months, is laid up at his home in Hol- 
low Stump with a sore bill. 



New Shop Opens 

Miss Mag Pie, former pastry-maker 
at the Hollow Snag Hotel, has opened 
a shop of her own in Cherry Grove 
Street. Best of luok, Miss Mag. 



130 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Exercise. Let each pupil prepare four or five original news 
items, editorials, or advertisements dealing with fanciful and 
humorous bird aflairs. When these are read in class or placed 
on the board, the best may be chosen and rewritten for the 
newspaper. Finally a committee can typewrite the paper 
while another committee illustrates it. 



LESSON 59 B 
Letters 14 



An acquaintance writes that he has saved nearly enough 
money to buy a pair of skates of a certain kind. As you have 
found this brand unsatisfactory, write him a letter, advising the 
purchase of another kind. State your arguments clearly and 
simply. 

LESSON 60 

Written Composition 20 

Exercise. Change these short passages into direct quotations. 
Follow the same instructions as in Lesson 56. 

1. Davis bent over the silent figure on the ground and asked him if 
he was badly hurt. The wounded man moved slightly and told him 
not to touch him, for he wanted to be let alone to die in peace. 

2. Then Lew called the boy and told him to bring his horse around, 
for he wanted to ride out to his father's farm. When he started to get 
it, he said that it certainly was a fine afternoon for a ride. 

3. Marie told her mother that she had thought by Nellie's actions 
that she didn't want her to go. She said she didn't think she meant 
to give that impression, for she was sure she wanted her to have as 
good a time as she could. 

4. I told Richard that he was old enough to know better. He said 
that he did know better, but that he had just forgotten. I said it was 
worse to forget than to be ignorant. He said that he knew it was. 

5. Bob asked me where I was going. I said that I was on my way 
to the barber shop. He said for me to wait a minute till he brought 



TO ENGLISH 131 

the car around. I said for him to go ahead and get it, and that I 
would wait for him on the porch. 

6. One day when the missionary was eating his dinner in the 
woods, two Indians came up. They said that they were starving. 
He said for them to eat part of his food, and they turned in and ate 
up everything he had. When they had finished, one of them said 
he would see to it that he was repaid for his kindness some day. 



LESSON 60 A 

Spelling 21 

Keview Spelling 7, page 65. 

Sentence Work 30 

We have learned that little clauses made with such words as 
who or where cannot be sentences. They are like zeros in arith- 
metic — meaning a great deal in combination, but not amounting 
to anything by themselves. You know that if you put down on 
paper two zeros, you have no number; nor if you put down five 
zeros ; nor if you write a row that stretches clear across the page. 
But if you put a little figure in front of the zeros, you have a 
big number. So if you write a row of clauses like this, you have 
not made a statement : 

who thought that a pencil which cost only one cent was not the kind 
of thing that ought to be shown in a window where diamonds were 
exhibited. 

But if you just change that one little word who to he, then you 
will have a big sentence. The difference between who and he is 
the difference between nothing and a great deal. 

In the same way the "ing" words and the "to" words are 
zeros in making sentences. They are not verbs and cannot make 
statements. If you put such words with a clause, you still have 
zero: 

wishing that he might go to Rome and see where the Pope lives- 



132 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

We can make a complete sentence with it or he or they and 
one other word: 

It stopped. 

But if we put an if or a how or any such word before it, we turn 
the sentence into a mere clause — a mere "zero group": 

if it stopped. 

This is like having a number 53, and putting before it; "053" 
is not a number in arithmetic. 

A noun with clauses or "ing" words is a "zero group" : 

Benjamin Franklin carrying under each arm a roll that he had 
bought before starting up Market Street. 

If you put a little was before carrying, you will make a sentence ; 
but carrying, by itself, cannot be the verb of a sentence. 

If a group of words is to make a sentence, it must do one of 
three things: 

(1) It may ask a question: 

Where are the plates? 

(2) It may give a command, where the subject of the verb is 
understood to be "you": 

(You) Stop that noise! 

(3) It may make a real statement with a noun or some pronoun 
like he or it or they: 

She knows it. 

Decide which of the following groups are sentences and which 
are "zero groups": 

1. Don't go yet. 2. Was Toby in danger? 3. A horse that could 
keep time to the music and even do a kind of waltz. 4. A man who 
was selling toy balloons and "squawkers" stood under an umbrella. 

5. Rocking the cradle gently, and softly singing a Norwegian lullaby. 

6. Sit wherever you are the instant the whistle blows. 7. To stand 
looking at the gravestones on a rainy day, and whistling as if it were 
great sport. 8. The dumb-bells that he had used before breakfast 
every morning for twenty -three years. 9. Exercise, my boy, if you 



TO ENGLISH 133 

want to take off flesh. 10. A large sheet of unruled paper on which I 
was required to draw a free-hand circle. 11. When was that paper 
passed around? 12. While the cattle are being driven into the pens 
to be branded. 13. When the girl with the paper was passing up the 
third aisle. 14. To make the poor beasts suffer like that with a red- 
hot iron. 15. To make a person study Latin in the ninth grade 
may be right in some cases. 16. Make me a bow, as if I were your 
partner. 17. That you put through a noose before you buckle it. 

18. Bringing the bird in his mouth to his master, who patted his head. 

19. One of his ribs that had been broken by the bat. 20. Sitting in 
her cozy corner by the fire, she looked quite comfortable. 

The Right Forms 16 

come — came — have or has come 

1. The car came at nine. 

2. She came late. 

3. How many have come? 

4. They came early. 

5. Why have you come here? 

6. He came an hour ago. 

7. W r ho has come with him? 

8. They came to the party. 

9. You should have come with me. 

10. The two had come to blows. 

11. She has come for a visit. 

12. Has she come alone? 

13. Her sister came w4th her. 

14. The rain had come through the roof. 

15. The letter ought to have come yesterday. 

16. It came only this morning. 

17. We came to help you. 

18. I have come to ask a question. 

19. Who came from out of town? 

20. Who has come at this late hour? 

21. Alice came slowly down the steps. 

22. The bill of goods came to $4.86. 

23. The geese never came north so early before. 



134 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON 61 

Spelling 22 

Review Spelling 9, page 73. 

Oral Composition 15 

Prepare to explain to the class how to perform one of these 
tasks. While they may seem at first to be laughably easy, you 
will find that it is not so easy to stand up and tell in good sen- 
tences exactly what to do and how to do it. 

1. How to make an oyster stew 

2. How to hang a pair of stockings on the line to dry 

3. How to erase a mistake when typewriting with carbon sheets 

4. How to plant a row of onion sets 

5. How to sharpen a pocket-knife 

6. How to make a rope ladder 

7. How to give a pup a bath 

8. How to use the telephone for a long-distance call 

9. How to make a tightener for a tennis net 
10. How to clean and oil a rifle 



LESSON 62 

Oral Composition 16 



A subject that should give us some specially interesting in- 
terviews is this one : Schools of today and schools of a generation 
ago. That would be entirely too big a subject if stated in such a 
way. Therefore we might narrow it down, and go to one of our 
parents or some other older person — the older the better — with 
a question like this : Does the school I attend give boys and girls 
a better preparation for life than the schools yon icent to? Prepare 
a few questions to draw out the information you want. Your 
inquiries might be about physical training, outdoor exercise, 
the health of the pupils, whether teachers are better now than 
they used to be, whether seme subjects were better taught in 
the old days, whether pupils had better manners then than now, 



TO ENGLISH 135 

whether they could spell better, and whether they got any train- 
ing as useful as that which our courses in domestic science and 
manual training now give. Possibly there are some other 
matters that you will want to ask about, too. 

Get your interview, and write up your notes. Practice giving 
the report before you come to class. Remember to use direct 
quotations and a variety of said words, some of them after the 
quotations and some breaking the quotations in two. Keep in 
mind the importance of speaking slowly and plainly. 

Here is a sample interview of this sort. Can you improve 
upon it? Study it, and pick out the good points and the bad 
ones. It was given by a seventh-year girl named Ruth. Her 
exact words were taken down in shorthand as she spoke, and 
here they are. 

Last night after supper I had an interview with my father — er — 
T had an interview with my father last night after supper. I asked 
him if he would tell me about the schools when he went to them. 
He said that he would, and the first question that I asked him was if 
the schools had physical training, but he said that they didn't have 
very much. They played baseball, and pullaway, and dare, and 
those kind of games, but they didn't have very much. He said that 
the children walked to school more than we do today. Then I asked 
him if their health was better. He said that it wasn't any better, 
he didn't think, and that if anything, it wasn't as good. I asked him 
if the teachers they had were better teachers then, and he said that 
he didn't think the teachers were near as well trained, because they 
went to country schools before they — before he went to one. He said 
that Miss Hill was a very superior teacher than the ones he had. 
The subjects that he took were spelling, writing, and reading. That 
was about all, I think, that he took, but he said that there was more 
spelling than anything else, it seemed to him. The pupils can't spell 
as good today, he didn't think, as they could then, because the teachers 
aren't giving it as much now as they did then. But he said that he 
liked to go to school, because they got to go to school only in the 
winter time, and sometimes he didn't get to go then. The teachers 
were very much more stricter when he went than they are today. 
He said that every little thing that was done, they were sent into the 
corner, or into the back of the room, or something. He said they 
had better manners then, he thought, at least in the country schools 
he went to, anyway. 



136 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 



LESSON 62 A 

Written Composition 21 

Exercise. Rewrite four of the following passages, using direct 
quotations only. Put some life into the speeches. Put the 
said words in different positions. Let each speech stand in a 
paragraph by itself. 

1. The cattle men came riding up to the fence. They told the 
sheep-herders that they had just twenty-four hours to get out of the 
country. They said they would like to know who had the authority 
to order them out. Then they said that it didn't make any difference 
about the authority; if they knew what was healthy for them, they 
would make themselves scarce. 

2. Doctor Beck asked the guide if he had ever been to the top be- 
fore. He said he had, but that it was several years ago. He said it 
was in the summer time, too. He then said that he was very anxious 
to go up there at once. He told him that it would be foolish to start 
that late in the day. He said that if he would wait till morning, he 
would accompany him. 

3. I asked Eula what she thought of the game we had last Saturday. 
She said she hadn't seen it. I said that she had certainly missed an 
exciting time. She said she didn't care, for she had taken a good auto 
ride. I said that a person could take an auto ride almost any day, but 
that a chance to see a game like that one didn't come very often. 

4. The policeman came over and asked Ellis if he felt sick. He said 
he had a feeling of dizziness, but that it would soon pass off if he sat 
on the steps a few minutes. The officer told him there was a drug- 
store a few doors down the street. He thanked him, and said he 
thought he would be all right in a short time. 

5. I asked Dale why he was going to the pond when the water was 
so good in the river. He said that, to tell the truth about it, he had 
promised his mother not to swim in the river. I said that I thought 
the river was safe enough, but he went on, saying that a promise was a 
promise, and that the pond was the place for him. 

6. The brakeman wanted to know whether they had any money. 
He said that he would put them off at the next stop if they didn't give 
him a couple of dollars. One of the men said that they didn't have any 
money at all, but that they were willing to help unload freight if they 
wanted them to. The brakeman went on up the train, saving as he 
left that he would see about it. 



TO ENGLISH 137 

7. Noticing that the maid looked pale and worried, I said I hoped 
Mrs. Barron would be better in a few hours. She said she feared the 
poor woman would never be any better, for the shock had been terri- 
ble. I said that if there was anything we could do, she must let us 
know, and she said she would call us if there was any need. 

8. When Newman came out of the gymnasium, Coach Bennett 
told him that he knew he had been smoking, and that no man who 
wouldn't train could hold a place on a team of his. He said that he 
had done it only once, and that if he would give him another chance, 
he would give his word of honor never to break training again. He 
then said that it was too late to make promises, and that he could con- 
sider himself out of the game for a week, at least. 

9. The King of Bohemia rushed into the room. Grasping Sherlock 
Holmes by either shoulder, and looking eagerly into his face, he asked 
him if he had secured the photograph. He said that he had failed to 
get it. The King asked him if he had any hopes of success. He said 
that he had. The King then told him to come on, for he was very im- 
patient to be off. He said that it would be necessary to call a cab first, 
but he said that his own carriage was waiting at the door. Holmes said 
that would simplify matters. 



LESSON 63 

Spelling 23 
Review Spelling 11, page 87. 

Written Composition 22 

Imagine that you have talked with one of your friends 
in regard to your plans for making an ice-boat, a telephone, 
an aquarium, a vegetable or flower garden, a coaster, a gar- 
ment, a sofa-pillow, a simple piece of furniture, or some other 
article. Since this conversation, you have finished the task. 
Write a letter in which you tell the friend exactly how you 
went to work and what you accomplished. Make your ex- 
planation so simple and clear that a person who reads your 
letter will be able to make the article himself. Perhaps a 
simple drawing w<ill add clearness to your explanation. 



138 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON 63 A 

Oral Composition 17 

Boys and girls take much delight in performing mysterious 
tricks that puzzle other people. No doubt there are pupils in 
your class who are clever magicians. Have you ever seen the 
two tricks given below played? They are rather hard to detect. 

The trick is played by two persons, the "magician" and his assistant. 
Of course the assistant knows how the trick works. The magician, 
after sending his assistant from the room, asks someone to think of a 
certain number between one and ten. The person who selects the num- 
ber tells the magician what it is in a whisper, or, better still, writes it 
on a blackboard and then erases it. 

Then the assistant is called back into the room. Coming up to the 
magician, he places his hands on the cheeks of the latter, with the 
finger-tips covering the temples, and looks into his eyes for a few sec- 
onds. When the magician snaps his fingers, the assistant steps to the 
board and writes the number that was chosen. Apparently he has 
read the mind of the magician. How does he do it? 

Here is the secret of this mysterious trick of "mind-reading." When 
the assistant places his fingers on the temples of the magician, the lat- 
ter simply clenches his jaws the necessary number of times to indicate 
the selected number. Anybody who can feel and count can then give 
the answer. Try it yourself, and mystify your friends. 

A trick of a different sort is played with a handkerchief. The per- 
former spreads the handkerchief flat on a table, and places on the mid- 
dle of it a match which he has borrowed. He then rolls the handkerchief 
over the match several times. Next he apparently picks up the match, 
folded in the cloth, and breaks it into several pieces. Everybody sees 
that the match is broken, and hears the snap of the wood. Yet when 
the handkerchief is unrolled, the match is seen to be whole. 

The secret of the mystery is very simple. The match which was 
broken is an extra one which has been concealed in the hem of the 
handkerchief beforehand. 

Exercise. Let each pupil be prepared to explain to the class 
how a certain trick works. The language must be planned in 
advance, or some in the class will fail to understand you. Try 
to do your explaining in as few words as you can. Make good 
short sentences, with pauses between them. 



TO ENGLISH 139 

If there is time, your teacher may permit several pupils to 
play their tricks and let the others try to solve the puzzle. If 
some person does not see through the device very quickly, the 
explanation is given. 




LESSON 64 

Letters 15 
DO YOU USE A CAMERA? 

If you do, write us today for our new catalog of cameras and sup- 
plies for the amateur, and we will send you our illustrated booklet 
"Money in Photography," crammed full of valuable information. 

The Barnaby Camera House Newark, New Jersey. 

BUILD YOUR OWN RADIO SETS 

Our latest catalog of wireless supplies, fully illustrated, together 
with a set of patterns, is yours for the asking. We can furnish com- 
plete outfits as low as $15.00. Write us in regard to your needs and 
your problems. 

The Matzner Radio Co. Peoria, Illinois. 

Exercise. Write a letter in answer to one of these adver- 
tisements. Fold and indorse as before. 

Spelling 24 

Review Spelling 12, page 99. 

Time is wasted on the review of a spelling lesson unless 
your heart is in it. Do some real thinking and working as 
you read again through Section 12. Make a list of those 
words that you ever caught yourself misspelling — even if you 
suppose that you are now master of them; for words are not 
so easily mastered. Bad habits like to "play possum," pre- 
tending for a while that they are dead, and then catching 
over-confident pupils unaware. 



140 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

The Right Forms 17 
throw — threw — have or has thrown 
1. Throw the ball. 
£. I have thrown it already. 

3. Where did you throw it? 

4. I threw it to John. 

5. He threw his cap into the tree. 

6. Her pony had thrown her off. 

7. Who threw this stone? 

8. One of those boys threw it. 

9. They have thrown stones before. 

10. He threw his book away. 

11. The ball had been thrown to second. 

12. The catcher threw too high. 

13. The key had been thrown away. 

14. The Indian threw his tomahawk. 

15. You shouldn't have thrown chunks of ice. 

16. He has thrown the wood into the cellar. 

17. The driver threw on his brake. 

18. You threw away your chance. 

19. I have thrown farther than that. 

20. He has thrown his machine out of gear. 



LESSON 64 A 

Letters 16 



Read carefully the two following advertisements: 

CAMP HIAWATHA 

An ideal summer camp for boys on the shore of Lake Superior. 
Trained physical directors. All sports carefully supervised. Fishing, 
canoeing, baseball, horseback riding, woodcraft, tutoring. Excellent 
board. Terms and illustrated booklet sent on application. Arthur F. 
Bowie, M. A., Gladwin, Minnesota. 



TO ENGLISH 141 

CAMP MINNEHAHA 

A delightful summer camp for girls on the shore of Lake Superior. 
Special direction of all sports. Nature study, woodcraft, swimming, 
boating, tennis, horseback riding, art, dramatics. Comfortable ac- 
commodations and excellent table. Physician in camp. Terms and 
illustrated booklet sent on request. Mrs. Arthur F. Bowie, Gladwin, 
Minnesota. 

Exercise. Write for booklet and information about one of 
the camps mentioned in these notices. Tell why you are inter- 
ested. Fold your letter and place it in an envelope which is 
properly addressed, but not sealed. 



LESSON 65 

Written Composition 23 

Write a description of one of the following places. Try to 
give your readers the atmosphere of the place by telling about 
sights, sounds, odors, and feelings. 

A deserted farmhouse — the attic — the hayloft — a camp — a cave — 
the barnyard at threshing time — the engine house — a stage set for a 
play — a hospital ward — a hotel kitchen — the laundry — the furnace 
room — the physical director's office. 



LESSON 66 

Spelling 25 

Review Spelling 15, page 112. 

Written Composition 24 

Do you know an old man or woman who came to the place in 
which you live at a very early date? If you know such a person, 
wouldn't it be interesting to get an interview, and find out what 
your town or neighborhood was like fifty years ago? 



142 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Did you ever see one of those old-fashioned bicycles, with a 
great high front wheel and a small rear wheel? Wouldn't it 
be interesting if we could go back for a little while to the days 
when men rode these curious things on the streets, and when 
street cars were drawn by horses? Of course, we cannot do 
that. But there are people living near all of us who can remem- 
ber those old days, and who will be glad to tell us what the 
streets and buildings of our cities were like in the days of long 
ago. 

Exercise. Hold an interview with a citizen who can tell 
about the old times. Prepare some questions in advance, so 
that you will be able to guide the conversation and get the 
information you want. This might be valuable. If well written 
out, it should be worth keeping; for when the old settlers are 
gone, it will be too late to find out the interesting things which 
they remember. 



LESSON 66 A 

Oral Composition 18 



On page 143 is a picture which shows us that we do not 
need to go outside the United States to find some very romantic 
places. As we look at the remarkable little church, we wonder 
why it was built, and how one man could accomplish such a 
task. How large does it appear to be, judging by the height of 
the old monk who stands by the door? Why did old Father 
Otto build it so small that only three persons could worship in 
it at a time? He must have had a reason. When we observe 
the careful, loving details of the stonework, we wonder how long 
he must have taken at his work. We wonder, too, how the old 
man could raise the stones and build even a steeple all by him- 
self. 

Now you are to have a chance to use your imagination on this 
strange problem. You have held a number of real interviews. 



TO ENGLISH 



143 




'*&&/?■& 



'* 



m 




THE SMALLEST CHURCH IN T THE COUNTRY 



144 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

This time you will held an imaginary interview. Suppose that 
you came upon the tiny church while on a walking trip, and 
that, finding Father Otto standing in front of the door, you 
stopped and questioned him. You found him very willing to 
talk about his work, and before you left, you learned the answers 
to all the questions that the sight of the quaint building had 
called up in your mind. 

Give the imaginary interview orally before the class. Make 
the conversation sound real, just as when you reported on actual 
interviews. 






LESSON 66 B 



Oral Composition 19 

Prepare to give orally one of these dialogs. Most of the sub- 
jects require you to use your imagination and your sense of 
humor. Remember that no matter how original or funny your 
dialog may be, it will not be good enough unless you use direct 
quotations as you have been taught to use them. 

1. After the examination 

2. Billy and Dad in the woodshed 

3. A heated argument 

4. The young bride and the grocer 

5. Two fish — concerning an attractive worm 

6. After the report cards come out 

7. An automobile and a horse 

8. A carpenter and a novelist — concerning the usefulness of their 

duties 

9. The ground-hog and the weather man 

10. A boy mowing the yard and a boy with a fishing-pole 

11. The tramp and the housekeeper 

12. Two bragging fishermen 

13. A cat and a squirrel 

14. The coach and the player 

15. The watermelon and the boy across the fence 

16. A pupil tempted to play truant and his conscience 

17. Noah and the commander of a submarine 



TO ENGLISH 145 

18. The bee and the butterfly 

19. Mother and yourself — on getting up hi the morning 

20. Paul Revere and a motor-cycle policeman 

21. Benjamin Franklin and some famous man of today 

22. A fox and a rooster 

23. The baby and the pup 



LESSON 66 C 

Oral Composition 20 

"Toasts" are simply little speeches, usually made largely in a 
spirit of fun. They are given at a banquet or dinner, generally 
after the people present have finished eating and are ready to 
listen and to enjoy the remarks of the speakers. The "toast- 
master," who is in charge of the program, makes a little talk 
first and introduces the first speaker. Between the toasts and 
at the end of the program, he makes a few remarks or tells 
funny stories that apply in some way to the other speakers or 
to their talks. If any of the pupils in the class have been 
present at toast programs, they can tell the others what these 
affairs are like. 

After a young person enters high school, he never knows 
when he may be called upon to give a toast at a school banquet, 
or even to act as a toastmaster. Therefore it is a good plan 
to practice this sort of exercise, so that one may be used to it 
when the time comes. It is not necessary to have a dinner in 
order to conduct a toast program for practice. We can suppose 
that we have held a banquet in honor of the birthday of a 
member of the class or some such occasion, and we can arrange 
our chairs about the room so that all can see and hear the 
speakers. Then the pupil chosen to be toastmaster or toast- 
mistress can begin the program, and the speakers can go ahead 
just as in a real program. 



146 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

In preparation look up several funny stories which you can 
apply in a comic way to the occasion or to one of the speakers 
or another person present. Usually one of the speakers who 
comes before you will give you some ideas for your own remarks 
if you are alert. Your main purpose is to amuse your friends 
and to make everybody enjoy himself. A little foolishness is 
all right. But you must remember that your talk will not be 
pleasing to your listeners or a credit to you unless you speak 
clearly and distinctly and use as good language as you would use 
in a serious and carefully prepared speech. 



SUMMARY OF MINIMUM KNOWLEDGE AT THE 
CLOSE OF THE SEVENTH YEAR 

1. Review. The pupil should retain and habitually apply the 
knowledge required in the summary of the first 33 lessons on 
page 80. 

2. Spelling. The pupil should show habitual mastery in his 
writing of every form given in the first 33 lessons. He should 
be able to spell in dictation work such forms as lies, ties, cries, 
tries, modifies (Spelling 11, page 87); of the singular posses- 
sive (Spelling 12, page 99); of such forms as coming, shining, 
writing, dining, hoping, scaring, truly, ninth (Spelling 15, page 
112); of such words and type forms as the teacher can intro- 
duce from Part II (see note to Spelling 16, page 115). 

3. Sentence Work. The pupil should be able to recognize 
all verbs (Sentence Work 18, page 82; Sentence Work 20, page 
86), simple sentences with two or more verbs (Sentence Work 
20, page 86) ; to distinguish between verbs and .verbals (Sen- 
tence Work 29, page 126), and between independent sentences 
and subordinate elements (Sentence Work 21, page 89; Sen- 
tence Work 22, page 95; Sentence Work 27, page 113; Sentence 
Work 28, page 123; Sentence Work 30, page 131). He should 
be able to apply his knowledge to separating passages into 
sentences (Sentence Work 23, page 99; Sentence Work 24, 
page 106; Sentence Work 26, page 109) and to improving the 
sentences of his own writing. He should be able to use com- 
mas with yes and no and nouns of address (Punctuation 1, page 
102), and to use the question mark habitually. He should be 
able to write the simpler forms of quotations (Written Com- 
position 11, page 103; Written Composition 16, page 118). 

4. Oral Composition. The oral practice which the pupil has 
had should by this stage enable him to talk easily and without 
embarrassment on prepared subjects, to pay due regard to the 
unit of the sentence in his talks, to get along without abuse of 

147 



148 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

connectives like and and so, and to use direct quotations with 
some skill when reporting conversations. If the verb drills 
have been persistently worked upon, the pupil should be able 
to use in oral compositions and recitations the correct forms 
displayed. 

5. Written Composition. All written compositions, including 
letters, should exactly conform to the requirements so far as 
mechanics are concerned. The pupil should be able to build a 
three-paragraph narrative or a description or explanation of 
from one to three paragraphs with purposeful beginning and 
some sense of climax. The essential knowledge of the sentence 
should, of course, be applied in the composition work. 



PART II— EIGHTH YEAR 

LESSON 67 

Written Composition 25 
Here is a story written by an eighth-year girl. 

Stung ! 

Last Friday Mr. Ellis, the Methodist minister, gave a talk in assem- 
bly. He told us a little story about iron. He said, "Pig-iron is worth 
twenty dollars a ton. If you educate it until it is good enough to make 
horseshoes, it is worth a good deal more than twenty dollars. More 
education makes it good enough for knife blades. Then it is still more 
valuable. If you put it through another process, and make it good 
enough for watch springs, it will be worth a thousand dollars a ton." 

Then he explained that education would work the same way with 
us. He compared the ninth-year pupils to pig-iron, which is not 
worth very much. The upper classes were more valuable because of 
better education. Finally, he told us, the seniors in high school might 
be compared to iron for watch springs, which is worth a thousand dol- 
lars a ton. 

When we came out of the assembly, I stopped at the fountain to get 

a drink. Olive K , who is in the ninth grade, came up to me 

and said with a grin, "If a ninth-grade pupil is pig-iron, what's an 
eighth-grader?" 

What do you notice about the use of quotation marks with the 
long quotation in the first paragraph? Can you make a rule 
for quotation marks with a speech of several sentences? 

Exercise. Write a story of your own experience, using a 
subject suggested by one of the following titles : 

1. My new shoes 8. My business adventure 

2. When the minister called 9. When I tried to bluff 

3. How I got the worst of it 10. A piece of good luck 

4. Caught in the act 11. The watermelons 

5. Against Dad's advice 12. When I forgot 

6. Green apples 13. The time I tattled 

7. The blunder I made 14. A wrong guess 

149 



150 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 



LESSON 68 



Grammar 1 
Review of Nouns 

You can easily tell proper nouns, because they begin with 
capitals and sound like names: Ohio, Bill, Harriet, Bunny, 
Tupper High School, Cat skills, Grosvenor Square, President 
Garfield. 

It is easy to find most of the common nouns, for they name 
common things and usually have a, an, or the before them: 
camera, shoestring, mustache, tower, snail, drawing-tools, spike. 

But a few common nouns are not so easy. They do not name 
an object that we can put our fingers on : lot, deal, amount, way, 
sense, rate. Most of them are used with a, an, or the and are 
names. Here are some more nouns of this sort : 



a great quantity 


my feelings 


nothing 


the sticky substance 


his troubles 


anything 


the result 


an effort 


something 



A word that names a whole group of people or animals is a 
noun: crowd, herd, swarm, class, band, audience. These usually 
have a, an, or the before them. (They are called "collective 
nouns.") 

Another kind of noun is made with ness; brightness, goodness, 
sweetness, business, dirtiness, cleanness. These words are names 
and are used with a, an, or the. (They are called "abstract 
nouns.") 

Other nouns of the same sort, not made with ness, are height, 
length, speed, truth, weight, beauty, activity. 

Find all the nouns in the following sentences. There may not 
be a or an or the before each noun; often there is a my or his or 
their or some or this. Sometimes there is no such word in front 
of a noun. Look for words, used as names, that "might natur- 
ally have a, an, or the in front of them." 

Each of the first ten sentences has three nouns. 



TO ENGLISH 151 

I. See the bunch of grapes on the plate. 2. Poland is not so large 
a country as France. 3. Mr. Hoover showed a great deal of activity. 
4. The voices of the excited children could be heard for hours. 5. The 
school of fish was not swimming with much speed. 6. My only hope 
is that the judge will show some mercy. 7. The crowd of strikers 
stretched clear to the wharf. 8. Your wish for a set of Poe has come 
true. 9. The committee sat the whole day, but did nothing. 10. She 
said something about the length of the lesson. 

From here on some of the sentences have no nouns ; some have 
four or five. 

II. The brightness of the light was bad for our eyes. 12. Arthur 
gave his mother a promise to leave before the end of the performance. 

13. A herd of sheep at night, crowded in sheds, is a pretty sight. 

14. What is the idea of talking about the "length" of a wave of light? 

15. I was drifting slowly along, not thinking how far I might be car- 
ried before you called to me to come back. 16. The truth about Dick 
is that, in spite of his weight, his slowness makes him a poor player. 
17. The total wealth of the United States was then supposed to be 
more than $300,000,000,000. 18. What he told you about his regiment 
is the absolute truth. 19. This painting of a smiling lady becomes a 
picture of a man and a horse when a red light is thrown on it. 20. Has 
anything been said in this class about telegrams or about the way to 
write night-letters? 21. Do you suppose he really expects us to be- 
lieve that? 22. A man in Baltimore has invented a machine that will 
brush the dirt from your shoes, put on the polish, rub hard with cloths, 
and give a perfect shine in a minute and a half. 23. The charge for 
this operation is only a nickel. 24. The price the man charges for his 
small apples drives away his customers. 



LESSON 69 

Written Composition 26 
Explaining 

Do you know that you are an expert? You are. There are 
certain things that you know very well how to do. You can 
tell other people how to do them, just as a coach explains a play 
to his team, or a shop foreman instructs his men how to do their 
work. Explanation is a very practical and important kind of 
composition, and it is important that you try hard to master it. 



152 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Of course, an explanation must be perfectly plain, or it is not 
a good one. You must have all parts of it in the right order, so 
that the person who tries to understand or to follow your direc- 
tions will be able to succeed. Lead on from sentence to sentence 
by such expressions as when, next, after this, now, finally. If 
the process which you are trying to make clear is rather long, 
divide it carefully into parts or paragraphs. 

As you read the following short explanation, notice whether 
all the steps are in the right order. Could you carry out the 
directions after reading them once? After you read them, give 
the explanation in your own words. 

A Fire in a Trench 

The best fire for cooking in camp is a small, clear one, or a few brisk 
coals. To make such a fire, first gather a number of dry sticks about 
one inch in diameter. Dead limbs still clinging to trees are likely to 
be drier than those picked up from the ground. Split some of these and 
shave them up into kindling. Next, dig a trench in the ground, in the 
direction of the wind, about a foot long, four inches wide, and six inches 
deep. In this trench start your fire, gradually piling on the heavier 
wood as the fire grows. When the trench is full of burning wood, allow 
it a few minutes to burn down to coals. Then rest your pans or kettles 
over the trench, supporting them with stones or green sticks if neces- 
sary, and start cooking. 

Exercise. In one written paragraph explain to a person of 
your own age exactly how one of the following should be done. 
Write good complete sentences, using very few and's. Be sure 
that you tell enough to enable a sensible reader to succeed by 
following your instructions. 

1. How to "build" a load of hay 7. How to remove ice from a 
"2. How to remove and put on a sidewalk 

tire 8. How to stop bleeding from 

3. How to stuff and roast a an artery 

chicken 9. How to make a salad 

4. How to dress a burn 10. How to pile a cord of wood 

5. How to remove ink-stains 11. How to make good coffee 

from clothing in camp 

6. How to poach eggs 12. How to clean spark-plugs 



TO ENGLISH 153 

LESSON 70 

Spelling 26 

Review the ies words in Spelling 11, page 87. 

Every high school in the country has a few seniors who fail 
again and again to think of ies when they write, "He studies 
very hard." Yet of course studies must end with the same ies 
that we have in modifies and tries. A teacher can show them the 
verb denies, but a few of these advanced students cannot really 
open their eyes to the ies on the end. 

An eighth-year pupil can, if he cares to, learn when to use ies. 
The first step in learning is to know what "vowels" are. They 
are the six letters, a, e, i, o, u, y. If there is one of these vowels 
before the y, we do not change the y to i, but add the s directly, 
thus : pays, obeys, enjoys, buys. 

The second step is to know what a "consonant" is. A con- 
sonant is any letter except the six vowels — b, c, d, f, g, etc. If 
there is a consonant before the y, we must always change it to 
i and add es: "She babies the boy." "He studies very little." 
"He defies his enemies." "He replies to the letters." "The horse 
whinnies." "He copies the problems." "She hurries across the 
street. " "Father busies himself in the garden." 

Write out each of the ies verbs given in this lesson. Make 
your eye and your hand used to ies. When you have to write 
verbs in class, think of ies. 

Grammar 2 
Review of Nouns as Subjects 
A subject often comes before the verb. 
The piece of lace must be washed. 

But in a question the subject is commonly between two parts of 
the verb. 

1. Did the axle break? 

2. Pave the ashes been sifted? 



154 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

The easy way to find the subject in a question is to put the same 
words in the form of a statement. 

1. The axle did break. 

2. The ashes have been sifted. 

The subject in a question is often after the verb. 

1. Who is the girl in red? 

2. W 7 hich was the best speech? 

3. Wnere are my glasses? 

4. W r hy are you so happy? 

In the form of statements — using exactly the same words — we 
have : 

1. The girl in red is who. 

2. The best speech was which. 

3. My glasses are where. 

4. You are so happy why. 

The word there pushes subjects beyond the verbs. 

1. There was a pearl in the clam. 

2. There has never been such a rush for seats. 

Subjects often come after the verbs. 

1. Out came the turtle's head again. 

2. Down flew a shower of soot. 

3. On top of the box lay a nine-pound pickerel. 

4. Sitting calmly in my reserved seat was a fat, impu- 

dent, ugly-looking bulldog. 

Find the subject of each verb in the following sentences. 
Always ask "Who or what?" 

1. Anne slowly tore the letter to bits. 2. From the other side of 
the island came an answering whoop. 3. Does Grace know about the 
medal? 4. There is no reason at all for staying at home. 5. There 
were several pines on top of the ridge. 6. Can Allen use his leg now? 
7. By his side sat his daughter. 8. Where is the can-opener? 
9. WTiat is the length of your package? 10. Is there any dent in the 
cover? 11. Near the door stood a handsome Italian boy. 12. The 
doors should have been opened sooner. 13. Through this chink came 
a little light. 14. Why was Viola in such a hurry? 



TO ENGLISH 155 

LESSON 71 

Oral Composition 21 

Giving directions for finding a certain place is harder than 
you think it is, especially when the person in need of informa- 
tion is a stranger to the surroundings. Such work gives you 
good practice in saying clearly just what you mean, and in 
making others understand. Prepare to speak on one of these 
problems. 

1. Suppose that you belong to the "advance-guard" of a picnic 
party, and that the others intend to join you later. Tell them exactly 
how to reach the spot where you plan to have the camp-fire made. 
Be sure to indicate the starting point, or your directions will not 
mean anything. 

2. Give clear directions for finding the office of a certain doctor or 
dentist, starting from the schoolhouse. The person to whom you are 
speaking knows nothing about the town or the names of streets. 

3. Give directions which will enable a friend to find your locker in 
the gymnasium, and to get from it certain articles that you need. 

4. Your cousin, a stranger in town, is visiting at your home. He 
wishes to visit one of your classes. Give directions so that he can find 
the building and the classroom, starting from your home. 

5. Give to a thirsty stranger clear directions for finding a spring in 
the woods that you know about. 

6. You know a certain tree that was very curiously marked by 
lightning during a recent storm. Explain exactly how to find it. 

7. You are to spend Saturday picking strawberries in the country. 
At noon your brother will bring your lunch. Tell him how to find you. 

The Right Forms 18* 
run — ran — have or has run 

1. We ran a race on snowshoes. 

2. The team ran away. 

3. They had run two miles. 

4. Has the first race been run? 

5. The squirrel ran up a limb. 

*Review the exercises on page 114. Other "Right Forms" distributed throughout Part I 
should be reviewed from time to time in connection with those in Part II. 



156 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

6. I have often run faster than that. 

7. You ought to have run all the way. 

8. He and I ran home from school. 

9. He has run a nail into his foot. 

10. The hound ran across the field. 

11. I had run till I was out of breath. 

12. The street car had run into a buggy. 

13. Have you ever run against a clothes-line in the dark? 

14. Couldn't you have run faster? 

15. I ran faster than I had ever run before. 

16. The rabbit had run into a hole. 

17. Water ran through the streets. 

18. The water tank has run over. 



LESSON 72 



Punctuation 2 
Commas in a Series 

If you write a series of words of the same kind, and connect 
them all by and, you would not use any commas. 

1. It was a large and expensive car. 

2. A deer's legs are slender and graceful and strong. 

But if the words are not all connected by and, you must use 
commas. 

1. It was a large, expensive car. 

2. A deer's legs are slender, graceful, and strong. 

Here is a series of three verbs connected by and. 

He begged hard and wept and knelt down before us. 

Here are the same verbs, with commas, because they are not all 
joined by and. 

He begged hard, wept, and knelt down before us. 



TO ENGLISH 157 

Here is a series of pronouns and a noun separated by 
commas. 

You, the guide, and I must all carry loads. 

Punctuate the sentences on Sheet 2 of the "Comma Book," 
putting in the commas between the words of a series if the words 
are not all connected by and. Remember that some sentences 
need no commas; you must think about what you are doing. 
Remember, too, that if you find any noun of address, or any 
yes or no, you must use the commas. Every exercise in punctu- 
ation is a review of all that has gone before. Use the periods 
and question marks. 



LESSON 73 

Spelling 27 



Review Spelling 1, page 22. 

What you learned about ies fcr verbs is true also for plural 
nouns. After a consonant like b you must have ies — derbies. 
After the consonant c you must have ies — mercies. After the 
consonant d you must have ies — ladies. After the consonant / 
you must have ies — taffies, So after g or k or I or n: buggies, 
jackies, families, bunnies. 

Be careful to get one idea in this lesson: we are now talking 
about ies after a consonant. Don't suppose that all plural nouns 
and all "s" verbs end in ies. 

Learn for this lesson the five ea words. Three end in ear: 
bear, tear, wear. Some nonsense sentence will bunch these to- 
gether: "The bear will tear the coat you wear." The two other 
ea words are break and great. "They break great stones." 

Probably you know the next five, but look closely at them to 
make sure. (1) It is just time. (2) Did you catch your train? 
(3) I have a neic coat. (4) I have something to tell you. (5) The 
road is muddv. 



158 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Grammar 3 
Objects of Prepositions 

Xouns are often the objects of prepositions. In the next 
three sentences notice each italicized noun and tell what prepo- 
sition it is the object of. 

1. In the cupboard under the turn of the stairs were some jars of 
preserves. 

2. At the little shop beside the factory he bought some candy with 
his last dime. 

3. Inside the can was something that looked like a paddle-wheel. 

Find the object of each preposition in the sentences below. 
Prepare to recite like this: "The preposition is like; its object is 
deer; like a deer is a phrase." 

Each sentence has two prepositions. 

1. Ned drew a funny picture of Alice on his slate. 2. From New 
York he went to Syracuse. 3. He went up the stairs with slow steps. 
4. Among his mgs was one with a broken handle. 5. She put the 
cord through the ring and tied it around his finger. 6. I looked down 
the line for my place. 7. The ball bounded over the fence and into 
Mrs. Ross's tulip-bed. 8. Y T ou will find your dollar under your plate 
without any doubt. 9. Toward evening I was in better spirits. 
10. By my watch it is after midnight. 11. Across the canon a 
gorgeous scene was spread before our eyes. 12. Between the acts I 
stared at the boxes. 13. When the steamer bumped against the pile, 
she scratched her paint below the water-line. 14. The moon rose 
above the clouds behind the tower. 15. In those days he looked like 
a tramp. 16. Through the telescope it looks like a small tree. 



LESSON 74 

Oral Composition 22 

Study this explanation of how to deal with an injured bone. 
First we learn about broken bones in general, what the danger 
is, how to avoid the danger. Next we learn about a broken 
bone in the leg or arm. The steps, in good order, are: (1) set 



TO ENGLISH 159 

the bone, (2) find a splint, (3) apply the splint with a pad, 
(4) how to bind the splint on with a bandage. 

First Aid for a Broken Arm or Leg 

A fracture is not very dangerous if the skin is unbroken, for then no 
germs can get in. The great danger is that the sharp, jagged edges of 
the bones may puncture the skin, or injure the muscles, veins, or 
arteries. Therefore, never move a person with a broken bone, until 
the fracture has been so fixed that the broken ends of the bone cannot 
stir. 

If the leg or arm is broken, straighten the limb gently. If necessary, 
pull steadily until the ends of the bone are in place. Then bind the 
limb firmly to a splint to hold it in position. A splint may be made of 
any straight, stiff material, such as a shingle, a piece of board, or even 
the branch of a tree. The side next the limb should be well padded 
with clothing, or even grass if nothing else is convenient. Be careful 
never to place the bandage directly over the break, but always above 
and below it. 

Exercise. Explain orally one of the following processes, or 
another which you prefer. Keep all the steps of your explana- 
tion in the right order. Make every pupil in the class under- 
stand you perfectly. 

1. How to make an invalid's bed 

2. How to handle a hay-carrier 

3. How to remove an object from the eye 

4. How to make doughnuts 

5. Catching rabbits with a ferret 

6. How to restore a person almost drowned 

7. How to find the north star 

8. What to do when a person's clothing catches fire 

9. How to treat frostbite 

10. How to teach a dog a certain trick 

11. Setting a breakfast table 

12. How to adjust paper and carbon sheets in a typewriter 

13. How to sew a "French seam" 

14. How to pitch a tent 

15. How to play a certain game 

16. How to make a camp fire 

17. How to build a bird house 

18. Making a fresh vegetable salad 

19. How to make a pogo stick 



160 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON 75 

Spelling 28 

Review Spelling 2, page 31, and Spelling 3, page 41. 

Sentence Work 31 

Separate into sentences this account of "four miles down in a 
parachute." Some of the sentences are long. Be sure not to 
write any part of a "zero group" as a whole sentence. But some 
of the sentences are short. Be sure to write these as complete 
sentences. 

how does it feel to step out into space about four miles above the 
surface of the earth with a small silk parachute that is not guaranteed 
to open in the thin air in 1920 no man in the world knew nobody had 
ever jumped from such a height in a parachute 

the first man to try was Second Lieutenant John H. Wilson, of the 
United States Air Service, who was known in the army as "Dynami-e 
Wilson" he obtained permission to try a leap from twenty thousand 
feet one June day in Texas he told his pilot to get the airplane ready 
after spending half the day in inspecting and folding his "chute" he 
started up in a D. H. 4B bombing-plane for about an hour they climbed 
in circles until the instruments registered higher than twenty thousand 
feet 

lieutenant Wilson stood on the edge of his seat shivering with cold 
when the pilot slowed down the motor a little he made a powerful leap 
backward and cleared the wires of the ship like a rock he dropped 
through the cold, thin air, at the same time pulling the lever that re- 
leased the parachute in the first few minutes after the parachute 
opened he could feel no motion in any direction he seemed to be sus- 
pended in mid-air suddenly a gale of wind caught him and carried him 
many miles at great speed then another gale, blowing in the opposite 
direction, caught him and blew him back as rapidly the parachute was 
banged around at all angles it was even turned upside down sometimes 
he would find himself spinning on the edge of a mighty whirlwind into 
which he would presently fall like lead for hundreds of feet 

at last he reached the steadier winds around five thousand feet at 
three hundred feet he opened the second parachute and began working 
toward a clear field in which he could make a landing it took just seven- 
teen minutes to make the descent Lieutenant Wilson says that they 
were "extra long minutes. " 



TO ENGLISH 



161 



LESSON 76 

Written Composition 27 
Community Topics 

The good citizen is interested in helping to make his town or 
city a better place. He needs to learn as much as he can about 
the place in which he lives, so that he can work to bring about 
improvements. 

Exercise. Let each pupil secure information about some 
feature of his community. Then each will write a composition 
of about a page on the topic he has chosen. The chief point to 
bear in mind while planning and writing the composition is : 
"What can be done to make our town, our city, or our neigh- 
borhood better than it now is?" Select a topic suggested by one 
of these titles. 



1 . Street lighting in our town 

2. What our schools need most 

3. The appearance of the alleys 

and back yards in our 
neighborhood 

4. Caring for parks and play- 

grounds 

5. Traffic regulations 

6. The improvement of our 

streets 

7. One of our most successful 

merchants (Do not men- 
tion his name.) 

8. A needed factory or store in 

our community 

9. Destroying flies 
10. Our library needs 



13. 
14. 
15. 



Music in our city 
One of our most useful citi- 
zens (Do not mention his 
name.) 
Our protection from fire 
Our trees and their enemies 
Making our streets safe 

16. An important industry of our 

locality 

17. The best clerk I know (Do 

not mention his name.) 
The business of our post- 
office 
The board of health and their 

duties 
Places of amusement in our 
town 



18 



19 



20. 



LESSON 77 

Spelling 29 
Review Spelling 4, page 47. 



162 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Grammar 4 
The Whole Verb, and Nothing but the Verb 
Notice the italicized verbs in these sentences : 

1. I shall soon be able to walk. 

2. You are sure to go. 

3. They were glad to see us. 

4. Lloyd was at home. 

5. Alice looked at it. 

No word like able or sure or glad or not or at can be part of a verb. 
Now notice five verbs that are made by adding something to 
the five verbs in the sentences above. 

1. I shall soon be walking. 

2. You are chosen to go. 

3. They were bought for thirty cents. 

4. Lloyd was running home. 

5. Alice had overlooked it. 

These verbs end in ing or n or t or d. You can soon learn the 
sound and the feeling of a verb. Many pupils have no trouble 
with verbs like can do, will see, rflight know, could lose. But some 
pupils like to put with these a word that is not part of the verb 
at all. No word like so or able or well or sure or soon or for or at 
can be part of a verb. 

Try in each of the following sentences to pick out the whole 
verb, and nothing but the verb. 

1. Is it seen in winter? 2. Were you calling to me ? 3. Have you 
been able to walk? 4. You might look at this. 5. Could you hear 
me? 6. We should soon be ill. 7. We should soon be found. 8. I 
have never been there. 9. Have you ever been caught? 10. They 
were glad to see us. 11. They have been pleased by the presents. 
12. Do you like it? 13. I have taken a dislike to it. 14. I have 
always disliked him. 15. Simon was listening eagerly. 16. Simon 
was eager to listen. 17. Have you been listening? 18. Have you 
been well? 19. Aleck's coat had been buttoned up tightly. 20. The 
little girl was rudely grabbed by the conductor. 21. The little girl 
was rude to the old man. 22. The house would be flooded in five 
minutes. 23. We have been to a concert. 24. Jeff had been eating 
a great deal. 25. The silk hat had been checked at the cloak-room. 
26. My hands had been warm when I started. 27 The chickens had 



TO ENGLISH 163 

been warmed by the hot gruel. 28. He may be waiting for us now. 
29. Bud may be kept after school. 30. No man can be sure of that. 
31. The piece may have been played a thousand times. 32. The 
cap may have been white once. 33. Three new members must be 
chosen. 34. Some of the new students must be afraid. 35. Did you 
ever hear of a verb "afrai"? 36. Boomerangs must have been used in 
Egypt. 37. You may be catching cold. 38. Fido may be out in the 
cold. 39. Are you going up now? 40. We were up in the attic. 
41. He has not been around lately. 42. Nobody has ever heard of a 
verb like "around." 43. The knife has not been found. 44. Possibly 
you may know of a verb "find." 45. Shall I try to find your rubbers? 



LESSON 77 A 

Spelling 30 
A Spelling-match 

How would you like to have a spelling-match between the 
girls and the boys or between the "odds" and the "evens"? 
Each side can elect a captain, and plan for the match. 

In the back of the book you will find a list of words for spell- 
ing-matches. A good scheme for preparation is to have one of 
your team-mates pronounce the words to you while you try to 
spell them. Every time you miss one, have your partner give 
you the correct form and mark the word with a little pencil-dot 
that can be erased easily. Then study the words you are not 
sure about, and try again. 

When we have the contest, the two parties line up so that the 
head of each line, where the captain stands, is close to a black- 
board. Each pupil holds a piece of crayon, and when it is his 
turn to spell he writes the word in big, plain letters on the board. 
As soon as he finishes the last letter, he is through, right or 
wrong. If he writes the word correctly, he goes back to the 
foot, and the line moves up. If he misses, he takes his seat, and 
the word is passed to the next person of the opposing side. The 
side which has the most people left standing at the end of the 
time set is declared winner. If the score is three to two or two 
to one, the last moments will be rather exciting. 



164 



THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 



LESSON 77 B 

Written Composition 28 

Many times a simple sketch makes an explanation much 
easier to understand. Read the explanation given below and 
study the drawing. Can you take two pieces of string and make 
the knot at the first attempt? Does the drawing help out the 
explanation? 



!*S335SSSSSSS3 




<XS3S33SSSSSS: 




Making a Sheet Bend 

The sheet bend is one of the useful knots which Girl Scouts learn to 
tie. It is the best kind of knot to use when one must fasten a small 
cord or rope to the end of a thicker one. If it is tied properly, it will 
never slip. 

In making this knot take one rope in each hand. In the end of the 
larger rope make a small loop, or "bight," as sailors call it. Pass the 
end of the smaller rope up through the bight from underneath. Then 
pass it over the bight, under the bight, and under the smaller rope 
itself. When you have pulled the loops tight, you will have a knot 
that is sure to hold. 

Exercise. Prepare a simple written explanation of how to 
make or adjust some article or garment. Your work in manual 



TO ENGLISH 165 

training or in home economics will suggest good subjects. Il- 
lustrate your work by neat drawings to make everything per- 
fectly clear. The girls must remember that boys know nothing 
about sewing or the common terms used in dressmaking. Simi- 
larly, the boys must keep in mind the fact that girls are not 
familiar with the common words or tasks of manual training. 
Make everybody understand. 



LESSON 78 

Spelling 31 

You know something about using an apostrophe in words 
like don't and I'm. These are shortened forms of do not and 
/ am. The formal name of them is "contractions" — which 
simply means "shortened forms." 

Do you know exactly how to make contractions? Or have 
you now and then been a bit confused? The rule is just as plain 
and easy as the rule for possessive singulars: "Put the apos- 
trophe where letters are left out." The advice and the warning 
are just the same here as for possessives: "Don't add any let- 
ters. Don't change anything. Simply leave out some letters. 
Wherever the letters are left out, put in an apostrophe." 

The most common contractions are made by leaving out the 
o in not. 

do -fnot = don't has + not = hasn't is +not = isn't 

did +not = didn't had +not = hadn't are +not = aren't 

does +not = doesn't. have +not = haven't was +not = wasn't 

might +not = mightn't must +not = mustn't were +not = weren't 

should +not = shouldn't would +not = wouldn't could +not = couldn't 

Can not is shortened more than the others, by leaving out an 
n, as well as an o: can't. For shall not we leave out the Z's and 
use only one apostrophe: shan't. The contraction of will not 
is very peculiar: won't. 



166 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Think once more of how ordinary n't contractions are made. 
You simply take the verb, whatever it is, and place n't after it. 
You must never add any letter: is -f not = isn't; was-\-not — 
wasn't. You must not omit any letter from the verb : have+not 
= haven't. 

The most important of these contractions is doesn't. Think 
of does '-f- not = doesn't. Learn to say and write "it doesn't, "he 
doesn't," "she doesn't." Think of oes. 

Be ready to write in class, promptly, any contractions that 
the teacher may put into sentences for you. 

Sentence Work 32 

Separate into sentences this account of Barnum's American 
Museum. Near the end you will find one subject, "he," with 
three parts of verbs, pick, put, and carry: these are all in one 
sentence, with commas between them. After this long sentence 
is one that has three Verbs. After that there are three very 
short ones. 

before the Civil War the great amusement place of New York City 
was P. T. Barnum's "American Museum" in the windows was a picture 
of Niagara Falls with a big stream of real water running over it a band 
played in the balcony on the street every afternoon and evening inside 
the Museum were many marvels one was the "Feejee Mermaid" there 
were trained dogs, trained fleas, rope-walkers, fat men, dwarfs, and 
giants in the basement were two whales that lived in a big tank of salt 
water. 

mr. Barnum had very clever ways of advertising his Museum he 
would do anything to attract attention once he rented a field close to 
the tracks of the New York Central Railroad here he put an elephant 
that was hitched to a plow the keeper of the elephant was dressed in 
Oriental clothes whenever a train passed by the keeper would do a 
little plowing you can guess that the passengers all crowded to the 
windows to see this strange sight they would ask what in the world it 
meant the "plowing elephant" was a glorious success. 

once a hungry tramp asked Mr. Barnum for a job Mr. Barnum gave 
him a hearty breakfast and said he would pay him good wages can you 
imagine what the tramp's work was it was certainly queer he had to 
place four bricks on the sidewalk at street-corners and then walk from 



TO ENGLISH 167 

one brick to the other all day long in his hand he carried a fifth brick 
whenever he came to a brick on the sidewalk he would stoop down, 
pick it up, put the other brick in its place, and carry it along in his 
hand so all day long he walked and picked up bricks and laid them 
down the crowds would watch him they would talk about him the 
Museum was advertised. 

The Right Forms 19 

doesn't — don't 

1. He doesn't answer. 

2. It doesn't surprise me. 

3. They don't speak English. 

4. Why doesn't this tree die? 

5. The stream doesn't flow that way. 

6. Don't you believe him? 

7. His story doesn't seem true. 

8. Doesn't the shoe fit? 

9. My ears don't feel cold. 

10. This pony doesn't kick. 

11. This log doesn't burn well. 

12. The kitten doesn't eat much. 

13. Why doesn't this rain stop? 

14. Doesn't he know the answer? 

15. He says he doesn't. 

16. Why don't you tell him? 

17. She doesn't dare to tell. 

18. We don't go to school on Saturday. 

19. School doesn't begin for a week. 

20. Doesn't the car stop here? 

21. She doesn't eat her lunch here. 

22. Doesn't the cap please you? 

23. He doesn't want to go. 

24. Why doesn't she study more? 

25. It doesn't seem possible. 

26. Your excuses don't sound very good. 

27. It doesn't make any difference to me. 

28. It doesn't sound quite natural yet. 



168 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON 79 

Spelling 32 
Review Spelling 7, page 65. 

Grammar 5 

Subjects Separated from the Verb 

Ask "Who or what?" about this sentence: 

The pile of sticks at the farther end of Mrs. Barnes's garden was 
burned up. 

You see that garden is the object of of. Therefore it cannot be 
the subject, because a noun cannot be a subject and an object 
at the same time. It sounds foolish to say that "of the garden 
was burned up." Also it would sound silly to say, "Mrs. 
Barnes's was burned up." If the poor woman had been burned 
to death, we should not put an extra s to her name in telling 
about her. We should say, "Mrs. Barnes was." Neither can 
the noun sticks be the subject, for it is the object of of. Who or 
what was burned? The pile was burned. 

Find each verb and its subject in the following sentences. 
Be sure to get the whole of a verb like "could be felt." Be sure 
to get nothing but the verb — that is, do not put in any words 
like not, at, far. 

Be sure not to say that any object of a preposition is a sub- 
ject. In some of the sentences the subject is far from the verb ; 
in some sentences the subject is just in front of the verb; in 
some the subject is between parts of the verb; in some it comes 
after the verb. Be careful. 

1. This mass of books and papers in his study was perfectly worth- 
less. 2. The scars of his battles with the other shepherd-dogs could 
be felt under his long hair. 3. When was the step in front of the curb 
made? 4. The bearings of an ordinary Swiss watch in those days 
were not made of agates. 5. There is something in my pocket for 
you. 6. "Oh, rubbish!" said my father. 7. Had the water been 
turned off before five o'clock? 8. A lot of fodder was being fed to the 
sheep. 9. In front of the hotel is a row of iron posts. 10. No rem- 



TO ENGLISH 169 

n ant of all those beautiful pillars and statues was to be seen. 11. Of 
all these flavors raspberry is the best. 12. A couple of these lazy little 
donkeys will give a man a day's work. 13. With this apparatus was 
a printed sheet of directions about setting it up. 14. Did the looks of 
the dirty tramp make you afraid? 15. The high wind, in spite of all 
its fierce howls and angry blasts, did not do much damage. 16. After 
dusting all the furniture with this dirty rag Bridget sat down for three 
cups of tea. 17. Out of this boiling mass came a most agreeable 
odor. 18. The height of the tide at the upper end of the Bay of 
Fundy is sometimes as much as 70 feet. 19. What in the world were 
the girls thinking of? 20. A little dial at the end of a long coil of 
copper pipe tells the amount of steam pressure. 21. A kind of thin 
mold was forming on the jelly. 22. No amount of effort will teach 
him. 23. That sort of pupil will never learn about the object of a 
preposition. 24. The thought of failure makes me very timid. 
25. Only one handful of raisins was needed for the cake. 



LESSON 80 

Written Composition 29 

Were you ever embarrassed? Whether you are sure about 
how to spell the big, peculiar word or not, you have surely used 
it in talk. Surely, too, you have had an experience that was 
decidedly embarrassing. An eighth-year girl wrote this account 
of such a happening. She called it My Most Embarrassing 
Moment. 

It was Sunday morning. As the church bell rang, I surveyed myself 
in the mirror. I was sure that I would make a great impression on the 
congregation. I had donned my new blue suit and my spring hat for 
the first time. The little veil which hung from the front of the hat 
seemed to me to add a touch of distinction to my costume. 

As I mounted the church steps, I was confident that many eyes were 
turned upon me. Perfectly assured of the effect I was making, I was 
ushered to a front seat in the gallery. From my seat I looked down 
on the heads and hats below, quite well satisfied with myself. 

As the collection plate was passed along the row, I suddenly caught 
sight of a hat exactly like mine across the aisle. In my astonishment 
my thumb slipped from the rim of the collection plate, and plate and 
coins fell to the floor with a terrific clatter. All eyes were turned upon 



170 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

me as I frantically strove to regain the coins that had rolled about under 
the feet of the people. Imagine my embarrassment ! 

Can you imagine how she felt? Have you ever felt hot and 
cold at the same time when you heard people snicker over 
something that had happened to you? Of course you have, and 
you will remember the moment for years, too. Write in three 
paragraphs the story of your most embarrassing moment. 
Sometimes newspapers give a prize of one dollar for such a 
story. Maybe ycu can win a prize with yours. 



LESSON 80 A 

Oral Composition 23 



Plan to speak on one of the following subjects or a similar 
one. The important matter is to make your hearers understand 
exactly what you mean, so that they can follow your instruc- 
tions. You will need to think out carefully the proper words 
and expressions to use. Probably you will need to use such 
expressions as horizontal, the upper right-hand corner, etc. Talk 
in real sentences, pausing at the end of each. Use words like 
next, now, then, after this, to lead from step to step. 

1. Tell how to make a cap, a boat, a windmill, or some other toy 
by folding and tearing paper. Explain so clearly that your classmates 
can make the article while listening to your instructions. 

2. Explain how to spell a word of three letters by the semaphore 
code so clearly that the other pupils can do it after you finish. Hold 
your hands still, and do all explaining in words. 

3. Tell how to make a figure-four trap, a pair of skees, a simple 
article of furniture or a garment, so that your teacher or a pupil can 
draw the parts on the board as you talk. 

4. Explain how to apply a roller bandage to the upper arm. Mem- 
bers of the class, using handkerchiefs or strips of paper to represent 
bandages, will do just what you tell them to. Will the bandages be 
put on properly? 



TO ENGLISH 171 

LESSON 81 

Spelling 33 

Review Spelling 9, page 73, and Spelling 11, page 87. 

Punctuation 3 
Commas in Dates 
Each part of a date that is written in a sentence should be 
separated from the other parts by commas. 

1. In April, 1906, there was a wreck here. 

2. On June 12, 1814, he died. 

3. The note was written on Saturday, January 7, 1922. 

In the first sentence there is a comma on each side of "1906." 
In the second one there is no comma between "June'* and "12." 
In the third there would have to be a comma after "1922" if it 
did not come at the end of the sentence. 

Why is there no comma in the next sentence? 

In 1492 what happened? 

There is only one item in the date. There is nothing to 
separate. There should not be any comma. 

Punctuate the sentences on Sheet 3 of the "Comma Book," 
putting in the proper commas with any date, with yes and no, 
with nouns of address, with words in a series. Some of the 
sentences do not need any commas. Put the proper mark at 
the end of each sentence. 



LESSON 82 

Spelling 34 



You have been told about toward and altogether. They are 
solid words, without any spaces or hyphens in them. Look at 
three other solid words : together, nowhere, without. "The letters 
of together ought to be together." When you write without, 



172 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

don't lift your pencil from the paper; it is one solid word. The 
"ever" words are solid: wherever ; whenever, however, whoever, 
whichever, whatever. 

Look back at nowhere. Do you see any s on it? Never say 
s, or write it, or think it. How would it sound to you if some- 
body asked, "Wheres are you going?" Never put an s on the 
where words : nowhere, anywhere, somewhere. 

Were you taught in the fifth grade to spell February? It is 
in four syllables: Feb-\-ru-\-a-\-ry. How many different teach- 
ers have shown you Wednesday? The wrong pronunciation is 
good medicine for poor spellers: Wed+nes-f day. 

The wrong pronunciation of another long word is the only 
way some people can learn to spell it. Think of ne+cess+a+ry. 
If you make your voice hit cess, and if you think of how cess 
looks, you may never again have to worry about necessary. 

If you can spell February, you can almost surely spell the 
other eleven months. That is queer, isn't it? If you can spell 
Wednesday, you can probably spell the other six days of the 
week. That is queer. But it is true. It seems to be true about 
all spelling. If a pupil can learn absolutely how to spell the six 
words of Section 1, he can be trusted to spell ninety -five others 
that the teacher never has to say anything about. 

Sentence Work 33 

Separate into sentences this account of how Lincoln rode into 
the fairgrounds. Put a comma after any* clause at the begin- 
ning of a sentence. 

The entire race-track was lined with all kinds of wagons and buggies 
the people who sat in them had driven long distances to hear Lincoln 
speak our wagon was close to the track near the entrance here we had 
to sit half an hour and wait finally we knew by the shouting down the 
road that Lincoln was approaching you never could guess how comical 
he looked when he came through the gateway 

a young farmer had trained a pair of steers to drive in harness they 
were hitched to a low open carriage it had only one seat on it sat the 

_. *Note for teachers: This refers only to adverb clauses. Sometimes it is well to show pupils, 
if the question is raised in class, that no comma is needed after a noun clause that begins a sentence. 



TO ENGLISH 173 

driver lie was a short man who wore a wide-brimmed soft hat beside 
him sat the very tall "Abe" Lincoln his high "plug" hat made him 
tower like a giant over the little driver 

as soon as the people caught sight of Mr. Lincoln they began to 
cheer him he tried to rise and bow politely, but could not stand without 
losing his balance his long figure would double up into a shape like a 
letter S back into the seat he would tumble with a bump of course the 
crowd thought that this was very funny everybody was laughing and 
yelling 

Lincoln laughed too he decided that he had better keep his seat all 
around that half-mile track he went, bowing and smiling and raising 
his hat in response to the constant cheering 



LESSON 83 
Written Composition 30 

Exercise. Carefully examine one of your books. Then write 
a two-paragraph description of it so that any person who found 
it would know it from all other books. In the first paragraph 
tell the outside appearance, the size, the color, and the names 
stamped on the cover. Add to this information the material 
you find on the first few pages, the name of the author and the 
publisher, the date of the copyright, etc. In the second para- 
graph tell about some marked or torn or stained places that 
make your book different from all others of the same name. 
Find as many of the trifling differences that show it to be your 
book as you can. 

The Right Forms 20 

bring — brought — have or has brought 

1. He will bring the tablet to you. 

2. Who brought this mud in? 

3. The boys have brought it in. 

4. Why haven't you brought your sister? 
o. She ought to have brought an umbrella. 
6. Why haven't you brought your overcoat? 



174 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

7. I brought a sweater instead. 

8. The teacher brought some ink. 

9. I wish you had brought a bucket of water. 

10. Who brought that basket of fruit? 

11. It was brought by a little girl. 

12. They brought the cows home. 

13. We brought in a load of wood. 

14. The day has brought joy to us. 

15. He brought a lame dog home with him. 

16. Mother asked why he had brought it. 

17. The man brought a paint brush. 

18. Why have you brought this straw in? 



LESSON 84 

Spelling 35 

See if you can look, without winking, at describe and see 
the first e in it. Can't you learn about that e without red 
chalk or a big E in white chalk? The very same e is in de- 
scription. 

You will find — as always — that a de word is much easier 
to remember if you put it with other de words, like destroy 
and despair. "He describes their despair when their crop was 
destroyed." 

Why not make this an "e" lesson? Do you know about 
the e in men? There is the same e when you put wo in front 
of men and get women. 

What do you put on the end of an adjective to show the 
most of a quality? 

dearest soured quicks liveliest 

It is the same e in smallest. It is the same in biggest — with 
two g's. 

There are going to be eight more words in this lesson. See 
if there are some that you have ever misspelled. 



TO ENGLISH 175 

Did you ever misspell there, meaning "in that place"? 
There often begins a sentence and looks like a subject: "There 
were three sentences there." Do you always use three e's 
in sentence? Learn that little sentence with eleven e's in it. 

Do you always put two e's in speech? and two in week? 
Think of "one speech a week." 

Do you always put two e's in the noun effect? Do you 
always put two e's in whether? Commit to memory: "I 
don't know whether it had any effect." Some people will find 
that sentence an antidote against two bad misspellings. 

In the next sentence there is a preposition wdth two objects: 

No one is here except Tom and me. 

Do you always put the two e's in except? Do you always put 
the two e's in enemy? Commit to memory: "The cat had 
no enemy except the dog." 

Probably you have grown rather tired of being asked so 
many times in one lesson whether you "always" spell a certain 
way. Spelling is a matter of "always." Using the right 
letters in one class, for one recitation, may amount to nothing 
at all. You do not know how to spell a word unless you always, 
as a matter of habit, use those same letters. 

Know all the memory sentences by heart, so that you can 
recite promptly if the teacher calls for the sentence about 
describe, or any of the others. 

Grammar 6 
Pronouns as Subjects 

A pronoun is any word that is used in place of a noun. 
Instead of "Stiles hit the sparrow T " we may say "He hit it." 
In place of Stiles we use he, and in place of the sparrow we use it. 

Here are the pronouns most commonly used as subjects: 

I we you he she it they 

These have a queer name — "personal pronouns." The name 
does not mean that the pronouns refer to persons, because 



176 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

you might be used for a dog, it for a marble, they for some trees* 
''Personal" is simply their name in grammar. 

You find a pronoun subject just as you would a noun subject 
— by asking "Who or what?" 

1. She never in all her born days had seen such a sight. 

2. Don't you dare to speak so. 

Who or what had seen? She had seen. Who or what do 
dare? You do dare. Usually in a command like this the 
subject, "you," is omitted. 

1. Run away now. 

2. Dare to be a Daniel. 

In such sentences the subject is "you understood." 

Find each verb in the following sentences and say what 
its subject is. 

1. Were they discouraged? 2. You can almost always catch a 
ride. 3. Seldom have I seen such an early spring. 4. Who are you? 
5. Come again tomorrow. 6. Often in the evening he would drop in 
for a call. 7. It was now running smoothly. 8. Do I look like a 
burglar? 9. Think of the long summer days. 10. Where can she 
plant the potatoes? 



LESSON 85 

Written Composition 31 
Here is a description which a boy wrote of his big brother. 

Jim H , of the Forty-eighth Canadian Highlanders, was a 

boy of a good five feet ten inches in height, and firmly built. A head 
of coal-black hair appeared above a boyish face which was worn more 
or less, from the toil of war. He wore a khaki tunic, on the right sleeve 
of which were two blue service stripes and a set of sergeant's chevrons. 
On the left sleeve was a gold wound-bar, which was about the size and 
shape of a match. The bright brass buttons, the ribbon of a Military 
Medal, and a belt all added splendor to the tunic. 

*The name simply means that the pronouns show people or things that are speaking (I and 
we, the "first person"); that are spoken to (you, the "second person"); that are spoken about 
(he, she, it, they — the "third person"). 



TO ENGLISH 177 

The lower part of his body was covered by a beautiful red-and-green 
tartan kilt, which showed two white knees. A black-and-white spor- 
ran* hung majestically from his belt, and lay in the exact center of the 
kilt in front. The calves of his legs were covered by a pair of red-and- 
black tartan socks. Two bright flashes, that hung from the tops of the 
socks on the outside of his legs, added color to the gay attire. A pair 
of khaki spats hid the lower portion of these socks from view. On his 
feet were a pair of huge hob-nailed shoes, which had seen more than 
one battle on "Flanders Fields." 

Even if you do not know the names of parts of a Highlander's 
dress as well as this boy did, you can get a fairly clear picture 
of Brother Jim as he looked in uniform. Have you noticed 
how much color there is in this picture? It fairly sparkles. 

Then it is worth while to notice the orderly way in which 
the writer presented his details. First he told the general size 
and build of the person. Then described the head. After 
that he pictured the tunic, w4th its sleeves, its buttons the 
medal on the breast, and the belt. Next he led the eye down 
to kilt, sporran, socks, spats, and finally shoes. That was a 
very good order to use, wasn't it? 

A good description must be orderly. The eye cannot see 
everything at once. It moves from place to place. The 
writer of a description should always remember that he must 
lead the eye from one point to another in an orderly w r ay. 

Exercise. In a short written composition describe a rela- 
tive or friend. Probably you cannot make as bright or gay 
a picture as the picture of the Canadian soldier, for ordinary 
people do not dress in such striking and interesting clothes. 
But you can use the same order. At the beginning you can 
give the general characteristics of the person that one would 
notice at the first glance — size, build, etc. After that you 
can describe him'more in detail, beginning with the head and 
face and moving down to the feet. Somewdiere in the descrip- 
tion you should give the reader a hint or two about the kind 
of life the person has lived, as in the example above, the 
writer hints at the toils of w r ar and the mud of Flanders. 

*A large, ornamental, fur purse. 



178 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 



LESSON 85 A 

Written Composition 32 

The Highlander described on pages 176-177 was worth look- 
ing at. How would you like to see a whole regiment of men 
like him marching to music? No doubt you would be willing 
to take a long trip for so splendid a sight. 

Robert Louis Stevenson has given us in a very few words 
a description of a marching Highland regiment. Look and 
listen as it passes. 

How I admire the superb gait with which a regiment of tall High- 
landers moves behind its music, solemn and inevitable. Who that 
lias seen it can forget the drum-major pacing in front, the drummers' 
tiger-skins, the pipers' swinging plaids, and the strange, elastic rhythm 
of the whole regiment footing in time — and the bang of the drum, 
when the brasses cease, and the shrill pipes take up the story in their 
place? 

Exercise. Write one paragraph describing one of the follow- 
ing moving pictures. If you can think of some scene not 
in the list, some time when you had a thrill as you looked at 
a crowd, that will be better still. 

Get in some color and some sound if you can, but the most 
important thing is action. If you are to make a reader feel 
the action, you must not tell a story leading up to the scene, 
but must begin at once, as Stevenson does. Make the reader 
hear and see what you heard and saw at just that one moment. 

1. A football team coming on the field 

2. A troop of Boy Scouts starting on a hike 

3. A troop of mounted police 

4. A herd of prize cattle driven through the street 

5. A portion of a Memorial Day ceremony 

6. The first band of a circus parade 

7. The passing of a fire engine 

8. A cadet company passing in review 

9. The finish of a race 

10. An airplane leaving the ground 



TO ENGLISH 179 

LESSON 86 

Spelling 36 
Review Spelling 15, page 112. 

Sentence Work 34 
Separate into sentences this account of a woman's hunt 
for an impolite person in Chicago. One sentence begins 
with "but"; one begins with "so." 

for three hours I had been trying to find a rude person in Chicago 
I had met only polite elevator-boys, polite women in alleys, polite men 
in the street-cars everybody had been polite to me even when I blun- 
dered into a shooting-gallery the proprietor was polite 

then I inquired where I could find a pawnbroker's shop I was sure 
that some hardhearted man behind a counter there would be unpleasant 
to me into Mr. Browne's shop I walked with confidence Mr. Browne 
was fat and rather fierce-looking also he looked weary at last I was sure 
of being treated rudely but I wanted to be perfectly sure so I fussed 
and chattered in a tiresome way before I asked about pawning my 
diamond ring 

Mr. Browne examined the diamond long and carefully he inquired 
how much money I wanted I said rather snappishly that I wanted all 
I could get he shook his head sadly was he rude in replying he told me 
most pleasantly that I could get more money on the West Side and 
bowed me politely out of his shop is there an impolite person in Chi- 
cago I couldn't find him. 

Separate into sentences this story of a famous baseball 
player. The last sentence begins with "y e t«" 

the Troy team had a little outfielder he was very small and a kind 
of misfit nobody paid any attention to him except to laugh at him for 
being so small 

one day a "scout" from the Chicago Cubs happened to see this 
misfit when he was called in from the outfield to play second it happened 
on that very same day that the second-baseman of the Cubs broke his 
leg the captain telegraphed to the scout the scout sent the Troy out- 
fielder his name was John Evers 

when Evers first came out on the diamond in Chicago the crowd 
laughed no uniform could be found that was small enough for him the 
trousers of an ordinary player hung on his legs like two bags the crowd 
roared at the "misfit" 



180 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

but Evers didn't worry he played ball during the rest of the season 
(twenty-two games) he played without a single error he batted .300 
after his second game the crowd hooted no more Evers quickly became 
the idol of the grandstand yet he never had a "swelled head" 



LESSON 87 

Oral Composition 24 

A schoolgirl wrote this theme. Has she chosen a good 
subject? Is her description easy to understand? Does she 
follow a clear plan? Does she show where the observer stands? 

Our Own Particular Ford 

On first observation "Lizzie" appears to be an everyday Ford, with 
the usual outstanding feature of appearing to be higher than long. On 
looking more closely, however, one notices that she is not a common 
Ford at all. It is true that she does not boast of any extra length, nor 
is she any less high than the common herd of Fords. But when you 
look at her wheels, you see the first great distinction. Instead of the 
plebeian wooden spokes, "Lizzie" has Dayton wire wheels, which give 
a nimbleness to her aspect in keeping with her reputation for puddle- 
jumping. 

If you walk around to the rear, a single glance will be enough to con- 
vince you that she is different. There, proudly in reserve, is a fifth 
wheel, just like that of a costly car. Quite as conspicuous is the fact 
that "Lizzie" does not have the three rectangular Ford windows. In 
their place are two oval glass ones. 

A peep inside the body brings out another difference, small in itself, 
but suggestive of endless fun on a camping trip. The back of the front 
seat has been cut and fastened by hinges in such a way that by simply 
removing two steel pins at the side, it can be let down to lie on a level 
with the back seat. Thus our Ford can be transformed into a com- 
fortable sleeping-car. It may be that to the eyes of others "Lizzie" 
seems to be only a Ford. To us she is in a class by herself. 

Exercise. Plan an oral description of an article that belongs 
to your family. Select something that, like "Lizzie," has a 
character of its own. Then bring some of your personal 
feeling into your talk. 



TO ENGLISH 181 

LESSON 87 A 

Spelling 37 

Challenge another class to a spelling-match,* to be held in 
the assembly on a specified date. Let each pupil make up a 
letter of challenge which is defiant and humorous, but not 
discourteous. These letters may be put on the board and 
discussed, and the best one chosen. The winning letter can 
then be mailed to the president of the other class. 

A team of five or more of the best spellers can be selected 
by competition. The match can be held with a small movable 
blackboard. The time designated may be fifteen or twenty 
minutes. The side having the most "players" standing when 
time is called is the winner. 



LESSON 87 B 

Written Composition 33 

Why Is She There? 

Study the picture of a girl tied to a windmill, on page 182. 
Who do you suppose put her there? Why? Does she look 
frightened? How would you feel? 

Exercise. Compose a short story based on these pictures. 
Let your imagination work. Be careful not to let your story 
be longer than two pages of theme paper. Writing in the first 
person, show in a few words the sensations you think you would 
have while whirling around a circle 150 feet in diameter, high 
above the earth. 

After the stories are finished and read, your teacher may tell 
you the actual circumstances under which these pictures were 
taken, f 

*See pages 302-30 1 for a list of words suitable to use in spelling-matches. 
fSee Teachers' Manual, Lesson 87 B. 



182 



THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 




TO ENGLISH 183 



LESSON 88 

Grammar 7 
Pronouns like this and each 
Four common pronouns seem to "point out"* things or 
persons. 

this these that those 

Find every pronoun used as a subject in the next ten sen- 
tences. Some are personal pronouns. 

1. Those in the other book were harder. 2. May I take my lunch 
with me? 3. Among the walnuts was this. 4. Count out loud up to 
30. 5. Doesn't he ever want to study? 6. That is the one for me. 

7. Have you written a letter home? 8. These in the bottom drawer 
would be better. 9. Will that be enough? 10. Read me some ex- 
citing story. 

Pronouns of another kindf are the words like one, some, 
each, when they are used in place of a noun. 

1. One of you is the winner. 

2. Each of us had his own pocket money. 

3. Some of them were deaf. 

The subjects of the verbs cannot be "of you," "of us," "of 
them." The subjects are one, each, some. 

Find each verb and its subject in the following sentences. 
Some of the sentences are a review of the other two kinds of 
pronouns. 

1. Some of the flour has been spilled. 2. Can't you hear me? 
3. One of these cows gives only ten quarts of milk a day. 4. Was this 
the right kind of sugar? 5. Will anyone help me? 6. Has nobody 
found the answer? 7. Each of you had better work at his own seat. 

8. Don't spend your money so recklessly. 9. During August I often 
went to the beach. 10. All of the parts of the engine were spread out 
on the ground. 11. Someone must pay for this. 12. Which one of 
us do you want? 13. Which one of you has the key? 14. Both of 
them had better go. 15. Either of those wheels will do. 16. Oh, 

♦Called "demonstratives." 
t Called "indefinites." 



184 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

1 here you are ! 17. Is any of this work useful ? 18. Each of the girls 
must have her share. 19. Not one of the doctors knew the cure for 
"sleeping sickness." 20. Neither of the tents was large enough for 
such a family. 21. Does that help any? 22. Those in the upper 
corner, over the book-case, ought to be taken down. 23. Does it 
surprise you? 24. One of them has a spot on it. 25. Will one be 
enough? 26. Much of the book is trash. 



LESSON 88 A 

Written Composition 34 

In the following paragraph Washington Irving describes 
the view from a window in an old-fashioned English country 
mansion. Notice how r the eye seems to move from the house 
to the distant landscape, and then back again for a closer 
look at the objects near at hand. WTiat time of day is it? 
What season of the year is it? 

The window of my chamber looked out upon what in summer would 
have been a beautiful landscape. There was a sloping lawn, a fine 
stream winding at the foot of it, and a tract of park beyond, with noble 
clumps of trees and herds of deer. At a distance was a neat hamlet, 
with the smoke from the cottage chimneys hanging over it, and a 
church with its dark spire in strong relief against the clear, cold sky. 
The house was surrounded with evergreens, according to the English 
custom, which would have given almost an appearance of summer, 
but the morning was extremely frosty ; the light vapor of the preceding 
evening had been precipitated by the cold, and covered all the trees 
and every blade of grass with its fine crystallizations. The rays of 
a bright morning sun had a dazzling effect among the glittering foliage. 
A robin, perched upon the top of a mountain ash that hung its clusters 
of red berries just before my window, was basking himself in the 
sunshine, and piping a few querulous notes; and a peacock was dis- 
playing all the glories of his train, and strutting with the pride and 
gravity of a Spanish grandee on the terrace walk below. 

Exercise. Write a description of a view r from a window. 
Show plainly the season and the time of day. Lead the eye 
about your picture in an orderly w T ay. Bring in touches of 
color, and movement. 



TO ExNGLISH 185 

LESSON 89 

Spelling 38 

Every day in the United States 15,000,000 young people 
go to school. They probably write the word stopped 2,000,000 
times every day. They probably misspell the word about 
100,000 times a day. 

Were you so interested in the big figures that you forgot 
to notice how to spell stopped? The word dropped has the 
same pair of letters — yes, a doubled letter. Now can you 
guess how to put the ed on the verb drag? You must double 
the g — dragged. It would be just the same with plan: you 
must double the n — planned. You must double the b of 
grab — grabbed. You must double the r of stir — stirred. 

Don't hastily get a wrong idea about doubling letters before 
ed. You have not been told to double always. This lesson 
is about just a few common verbs like stop. They end in a 
single consonant — like b or g or m or r. In front of this one 
consonant there is only one vowel — a or e or i or o or u. 

Write out the ed forms of the following verbs. Each ends 
in a single consonant, with only a single vowel before it. 



can 


slam 


jar 


war 


jut 


net 


pet 


hem 


rip 


dip 


whir 


sin 


mop 


flop 


hop 


pop 


slur 


shun 


hum 


drum 



The word stopped is as important as all the rest of the lesson 
put together. 

Grammar 8 
Singular Verb with Singular Pronoun 

The words one, each, either, neither refer to one person or 
thing. With them we use the verbs that refer to one person 
or thing: is, was, has, looks, does, etc. 



186 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

1. Each tool has its own place. 2. Each is in its place. 3. Each 
girl has her own locker. 4. Each has his own hobby. 5. Either one 
of you seems able to mow the lawn. 6. Neither of you cleans his shoes 
properly. 7. Neither of them was willing to spoil his new clothes. 

8. Each of you must do his share. 

In the sentences above notice the pronouns that refer to 
each tool, each girl, each, one, neither. For each separate tool 
we use its; for each individual girl we use her; for each or one 
or either or neither we use its or his. If we refer to each person 
in a class of boys and girls, or in a crowd of men and women, 
we use his. 

Everyone has to take his own lunch to the picnic. 

Fill each blank in the following sentences with a singular 
verb or a singular pronoun. 

1. Everyone glad to do share. 2. Each of the chil- 
dren making own garden. 3. Neither of them 

quick enough to keep hat from blowing away. 4. Every cow 

a bell on neck. 5. Each of us building own 

playhouse in a tree. 6. Everyone going to carry share 

of the lunch. 7. Neither of the girls to lose chance of 

winning the prize. 8. Either of us willing to do the errand. 

9. Each one to do part in entertaining. 10. No one 

failed to write theme this morning. 11. Everyone 

own idea about the mystery. 



The Right Forms 21 
his — her — their 

1. Give the boys their hats. 

2. Give each boy his hat. 

3. Tell every girl to keep her seat. 

4. Each pupil must bring his notebook. 

5. Let everybody go his own way. 

6. All the people have their own ideas. 

7. Each teacher has his own room. 

8. Every trooper cares for his own horse. 



TO ENGLISH 187 

9. Everyone may take his pen and paper. 

10. Each guest must provide his own bedding. 

11. The children have their tickets to the show. 

12. Everybody has his seat selected. 

13. Have all of you brought your dimes? 

14. Has everybody dropped in his nickel? 

15. Each one has given his talk. 

16. Every pupil has received his card. 

17. His own town suits each person best. 

18. Neither of the girls has given her answer. 

19. All the players have turned in their suits. 

20. Both girls have closed their books. 

21. Not a single one missed her turn. 

22. Each took fifteen minutes of his lunch hour for it. 



LESSON 90 

Written Composition 35 

Here is a story that was written by a boy eleven years old. 
Be ready to tell what you think of it. Can you find in it any 
groups of words that are not sentences? Does the writer 
use any words that you have never used in a composition? 
What are they? 

The Mad Dog 

As I came down the hill on my bicycle, I noticed a strange emptiness 
about the road in front of the village store. I soon saw the cause. 
There in the middle of the road was a huge black dog, with foam stream- 
ing from his mouth. "Mad dog!" was my first thought, and my fears 
were not quieted when I saw the neighboring trees hanging full of town 
loafers, terrified by the brute that was raging around below. One 
fellow, I remember, was standing on top of the town pump, shrieking 
for help. 

But this was no time to think of funny things. I could not turn back, 
and to make matters worse, the dog, uttering a horrid growl, started 
for me. I pedaled furiously, skidded to one side, and tore on. My 



188 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

friend, recovering from his momentary surprise, turned and followed in 
a sort of lope, as if not in a hurry to overtake me, but determined, just 
the same. 

We reached the top of another little hill and started down, gaining 
speed all the time. Thus far I could keep ahead of him, but when I 
came to the bottom of this hill, another one loomed in front of me. 
I must, climb it to escape him. This was obviously impossible, and I 
had about given up hope, when suddenly another opening presented 
itself. In the valley between the two hills was a little wood road. 
Down this I turned with the speed of a hunted rabbit. 

Soon w 7 e came flying out into the cemetery, betw r een the quiet graves. 
I suddenly threw myself off my wheel and ran for the nearest tomb- 
stone, w^hich seemed higher than the rest. I reached the foot, and had 
scrambled up in about three-fifths of a second. No one who has not 
spent three-fifths of a second scrambling up cold marble can even 
imagine how long it seemed. I gained the top and looked down. The 
dog gathered himself for a spring, and I realized with displeasure how 
small my tombstone seemed. He sprang — I w r oke up suddenly to 
find myself balancing precariously on the footboard of my bed. 

Exercise. Write a brief story with a surprise ending. You 
may use a dream with its sudden awakening if you wish, but 
there are other ways of bringing in a surprise at the close. 
Did you ever read the delightful little story by 0. Henry called 
The Gift of the Magi? Perhaps your teacher can tell you 
where to find it. It ends in a most amazing way. Another 
story the ending of which will amaze you is The Lady or the 
Tiger, by Stockton. Many pupils have enjoyed testing their 
ingenuity by writing another ending for this story. You might 
like to try to solve the puzzle yourself. 



LESSON 91 

Spelling 39 



Review Spelling 26, page 153. 

Did your arithmetic teacher ever show you how to spell 
divide? Did you ever see divide in a book? It has two i's. 
Do you ever use the word definite? If you never used it, 



TO ENGLISH 189 

so much the better; for you can learn it right to start with. 
It has two t's. Many older people wish that when they were 
young someone had taught them a piece of nonsense like 
"With my two eyes I see definite and divide with their 
two i's." 

In your class there is some pupil who thinks he knows all 
about definite, and yet, before the year is over, will write 
definite with one i. Wait and see if there is not. Try not to be 
this "one i" person. 

Can you spell final? Probably you can, but look again to 
make sure — one i and one a and no other vowels. 

Do you know how to put ly on the end of an adjective? 
Probably you do. You can write sweet, sweetly; cross, crossly; 
peevish, peevishly; hurried, hurriedly. 

Now comes the big question. Can you put ly on final? 
Possibly you cannot. Try it. Look away from the book and 
write. . . . Have you two /'s? You should have, for one Z 
and one I are two Z's — finally. 

The same is true of real. The I in real plus the Z in ly must 
amount to two Z's — really. 

The same kind of arithmetic for natural gives naturally. 

If in the same way you add one and one you will get two 
Z's in general+ ly = generally. 

Can you spell usual? A great many pupils cannot spell it. 
You will see, if your eyes don't wink, that there is a u, then 
another u, then an a: usual. Write it out now, steadily and 
slowly. 

Look at the two Z's in carefully. Can you explain how both 
of them got there? In the same way explain how many Z's 
there will be if you add ly to usual. Pupils usually learn this 
quickly enough at their seats and recite easily in the next 
recitation. Then a peculiar thing happens: a month later 
several of the class will go back to the same old wrong form. 
Spelling is full of strange stories. You do not know how to 
spell a word unless you can always spell it right when you are 
thinking about something else. 



190 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Punctuation 4 
Commas in Addresses 

Each part of an address that is written in a sentence should 
be separated from other parts by commas. In each of the next 
sentences there are commas on both sides of the name of the 
state. 

1. Boise, Idaho, is a busy town. 
.2. At Titus ville, Florida, there is a large packing-house. 

There may be three parts of an address. 

Our home is at 87 Mentor Road, Cleveland, Ohio. 

You will see that there is no comma between the number and 
the name of the street. 

See how the parts are separated, and how commas are used 
on both sides, in these combinations of dates and addresses. 

1. George Westinghouse was born at Central Bridge, New York, 
October 6, 1846. 

2. On July 25, 1814, at Killingworth, England, Stephenson ran his 
first locomotive nine miles. 

Punctuate the first ten sentences on Sheet 4 of the "Comma 
Book," being careful to put in commas with the dates and 
addresses just as you have been shown. Look for any ques- 
tions, nouns of address, etc. Never use a comma unless you 
have had a definite rule. 

The Right Forms 22 
drive — drove — have or has driven 

1. He drove a spike into the tie. 

2. We have driven the sheep in. 

3. Have you ever driven an automobile? 

4. He has driven two stakes. 

5. The wolves were driven away. 

6. I had driven the black team. 

7. He has driven a truck all summer. 



TO ENGLISH 191 

8. We ought to have driven more carefully. 

9. Have you driven the nails straight? 

10. The spear was driven deep into the ground, 

11. She had driven away without him. 

12. The dog has driven the cows home. 

13. The snow has driven into the tent. 

14. This post cannot be driven any deeper. 

15. How can a tack be driven into iron? 

16. We had driven into the stable. 

17. They drove twenty miles. 

18. Have you driven over this road before? 



LESSON 91 A 



Oral Composition 25 
Paragraphs with "Self-Starters" 

Read this paragraph, which tells the tasks King Arthur 
undertook soon after he was crowned. 

Then King Arthur set himself to restore order throughout his king- 
dom. To all who would submit and amend their evil ways he showed 
kindness; but those who persisted in oppression and wrong he removed, 
putting in their places others who would deal justly with the people. 
And because the land had become overrun with forest during the days 
of misrule, he cut roads through the thickets, that no longer wild beasts 
and men, fiercer than the beasts, should lurk in their gloom, to the 
harm of the weak and defenseless. Thus it came to pass that soon the 
peasant plowed his fields in safety, and where had been wastes, men 
dwelt again in peace and prosperity.* 

If you observe this paragraph closely, you will see that it is 
all a sort of explanation of the first sentence. Of course, not 
all paragraphs are built up in this way from a "topic sentence"; 
yet this is a very good kind of paragraph, and a kind that is 
easy to make. The "topic sentence" expresses a general 
idea which each of the following sentences helps to develop. 

*From Junior High School Literature, Book One. 



192 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Exercise. In a carefully planned oral paragraph build up 
the idea expressed in one of the "self-starter" sentences below. 

1. How we did work that morning! (Tell in the right order the 
things which you and somebody else did on some very busy morn- 
ing that you remember. Use words like first, soon, after that, 
next.) 

2. I was unlucky with that dress (or suit) from the first time I wore 
it. (Add the details of bad fortune that occurred in connection 
with a garment.) 

3. It seemed as if everything possible happened to make me late to 
school. (Tell about a morning when everything went wrong. 
Perhaps you started by breaking a shoestring.) 

4. is one of the most peculiar looking persons I know. 

(Build up a paragraph by giving the details of the person's ap- 
pearance, including his clothes.) 

5. A good soaking rain, is badly needed now. (Describe the condi- 
tion of the streets, the crops, the streams, etc.) 

6. "All the signs foretold a winter long and inclement." (See what 
you can do with this. Possibly somebody in the class can tell 
where to find the rest of it.) 

7. There is one poem that I like better than any other. (Tell the 
reasons.) 

8. The most delightful pet I ever had was . (Describe the 

creature and tell why it was delightful as a pet.) 



LESSON 92 

Spelling 40 
Review Spelling 27, page 157. 

Grammar 9 
Pronouns as Objects of Prepositions 
You have seen many pronouns that were the object of of. 
Pronouns, like nouns, are often the objects of prepositions. 

1. That is beyond me. 

2. It looks like him. 

3. Send it to her. 

4. Turn toward them. 






TO ENGLISH 193 



Sometimes two pronouns are the object of the same prepo- 
sition. 

1. Sit between him and me. 

2. He wants to go with you and me. 

3. She is looking at you and him. 

Find each pronoun that is the object of a preposition in the 
sentences below. 

1. May I go with them? 2. Which of us ought to talk with them? 
3. I will try to find out about that. 4. Is there some hard feeling 
between you and him? 5. All the blame is laid on me. 6. Without 
this you will be cold. 7. Is there a call for us? 8. There are presents 
enough for all. 9. Almonds were put into some of it. 10. There 
are still some stones below those. 11. The snow fell on him and me. 
12. The Camp Fire Girls came after us. 13. The confetti fell upon 
everybody. 14. The minister is pointing toward you and me. 15. A 
feeling of joy came over me when I looked at him. 16. Let's put 
a blanket over one of them. 17. Below me the crowd hurried on. 
18. Can you connect me with him? 19. I believe I will walk around 
it. 20. The president counts on her and me. 21. You ought not 
to talk like that. 

Pronouns and Nouns as Subjects 

Find every verb in the following sentences — "the whole 
verb, and nothing but the verb." Tell what noun or pronoun 
is the subject of each. 

1. Just at the end of the hour she finished her theme. 2. Would 
your expensive watch have kept any better time? 3. Through the 
fog could be seen the masts of a schooner. 4. Are you coming home 
tonight? 5. We, for all this bragging about ourselves, are not much 
better off. 6. Over this mat of cotton-batting was laid a cover of 
Irish linen. 7. The millions of rats in the wharves of New Orleans 
were being made very miserable. 8. Have they been cheated by the 
grocer? 9. Will there be any way to get across? 10. Those in the 
rear seats of the largest movie theaters really see best. 11. You in 
the sixth grade may not have known any better. . 12. Would Monte 
Carlo be a more attractive town? 13. The chandelier might have 
been broken in the mad scuffle. 14. With this herd of does was one 
old buck. 15. It will be spouting out a lot of steam pretty soon. 
16. A few of the plums at the bottom of the basket had been bruised. 



194 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

17. Can my voice be heard in the back of the room? 18. At the end 
of the bit is a little pointed screw. 19. In the center of a baseball 
will be found a core of cork or rubber. 20. On the top shelf there is 
some. 21. In that case you would be throwing your money away. 

22. Anyone with half an eye in his head could have seen that. 

23. The wire in this old fence around the wood-lot had grown rusty. 

24. Have any of you seen the box of chalk? 25. There was a bored 
look on his face. 



LESSON 93 

Written Composition 36 

A true description of a room ought to tell us something 
about the character of the person who lives in it. What sort 
of person lives in this room? See if you can decide what kind 
of life he has led, about how r old he is, and what he looks like. 
Is he fond of music? What is his favorite hobby? 

The interior of his cottage was fitted up in truly nautical style. 
A hammock was slung from the ceiling, but lashed up in the daytime, 
so as to take up but little room. From the center of the chamber 
hung a model of a ship. Two or three chairs, a table, and a large 
sea-chest formed the principal movables. About the wall were stuck 
up naval ballads, intermingled with pictures of sea-fights. The 
mantelpiece was decorated with sea-shells. Over these hung a quad- 
rant, flanked by two wood-cuts of most bitter-looking naval com- 
manders. His implements for angling were carefully disposed on 
nails and hooks about the room. On a shelf was arranged his library, 
containing a work on angling, much worn, a Bible, covered with 
canvas, an odd volume or two of voyages, a nautical almanac, and a 
book of songs. 

You do not need to be much of a detective to tell something 
about the man w r ho lives in that room. No doubt you could 
write a description of him, or invent the story of his past life. 

Exercise. Describe in a written composition the room of an 
athletic boy of twelve, or of a lively girl of about the same age. 
Write complete sentences, not too long. Don't use a bare 
was too often. Notice some of the terms used in the description 



TO ENGLISH 195 

of the angler's cottage. Observe such expressions as was slung, 
were stuck up, was decorated wiih, flanked by, ivere disposed on, 
was arranged. Try to think of other expressions to use instead 
of a mere was. A few such words are stood, lay, occupied, were 
strewn about, etc. 



LESSON 94 
Spelling 41 



You had a lesson in spelling stopped, stirred, and other words 
of the same kind. The final letters must be doubled in just 
the same way before ing: stopping, stirring, running, hitting, 
shutting, cutting. 

Turn back to Spelling 38, page 185, and write out the 20 
verb forms in ing. 

Punctuation 5 

Punctuate the sentences on Sheet 5 of the "Comma Book." 
This exercise is a general review of all that you have learned 
about using commas, periods, and question marks. 



LESSON 94 A 

Oral Composition 26 



If you have read any detective stories, you know that de- 
tectives succeed in their work by noticing little matters that 
most people fail to observe. For example, a good detective 
might be able to tell a great deal about the family that lives 
in a house by looking at the outside of the house. Did you 
ever try this sort of detective work? 

Exercise. Give an oral description of the outside of a small 
cottage. Mention signs about the house and yard which show 
that a very poor family, with several children, lives there. 



196 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON 95 
Grammar 10 

You have learned that words like to go, to ride, to be, to 
borrow are not verbs. They give us the name of some action, 
but they do not say that anybody does it. Read through this 
series of "to" words and see what it sounds like. 

to have a lot of money and to buy a big car and to eat all the candy 
you want and not to have to ask Father for anything 

That is a pleasant lot of ideas, but there is no statement that 
any person has all this money. The group of words is not a 
sentence. 

Sometimes the to is not repeated, but is understood after 
the first one. 

to have a lot of money and buy a car and eat candy 

Buy and eat look like verbs; they might be verbs. But here 
they are only "to" words. 

You have learned that no "ing" word, by itself, can be a 
verb. 

a boy walking down the street, whistling loudly, not hearing his 
mother calling 

We get ideas of what the boy is doing, but there is no statement. 
There is no verb like was walking. The group of words is not 
a sentence. 

Find all the verbs and "to" words and "ing" words in the 
following groups. If a group has no verb, it is not a sentence; 
if it has a verb it is a sentence. Decide whether each group 
is a sentence or not. 

1. Rubbing my sore elbow with some hot liniment. 2. To back 
the car carefully up to the curb at the right angle. 3. We were slid- 
ing gradually into a little bush. 4. To tell your fortune by turning 
over cards and looking at the lines in your palm. 5. The shoe is 



TO ENGLISH 197 

being repaired. 6. Holding his chin in his hand and scowling terribly. 

7. Looking into the empty barrel to see the ends of the firecrackers. 

8. He was wearing his father's moccasins. 9. Are you keeping ac- 
count of the stamps? 10. In the whole house there was not a single 
fork. 11. To compare the two wrestlers and try to guess the winner. 
12. At bed-time to say his prayers before getting into bed. 13. By 
giving it a push and sending it over the bank. 14. After all, to have 
a quiet time at home. 15. While swallowing the hot tea in thirsty 
gulps. 16. After stumbling over a chair in the dark and crashing 
into the center-table. 17. Not to know any better than to chew 
gum while talking to his grandmother. 18. Then I had a sensation 
of falling about 3000 feet in a second. 19. No, you are not going 
to be president of the United States. 20. After looking at the neat 
room he was satisfied. 21. After whispering to me to show her the 
slate and let her see the example. 22. Going by the "Indian Trail" 
and returning along the eastern side of the island. 23. In the dark 
hours of the early morning to collect all the dirty cups and saucers 
and wash them and arrange them neatly on the shelves. 24. To be 
utterly rattled by a visitor and forget everything you ever knew. 
25. After flourishing his pen over the paper a few times he hastily 
scribbled his name. 26. After melting the lead in a steel kettle and 
pouring it into the molds. 27. Seizing a chair, she thrust it between 
them. 28. To decorate a Christmas tree by putting dozens of little 
electric lights on it and hanging strings of popcorn and colored paper 
on the branches. 29. Far away down the slope, standing with both 
hands above his head, stood the Apache boy, gazing in the opposite 
direction. 30. Now it is my turn. 31. Eating all alone in that 
gorgeous restaurant, with two haughty waiters to do every little 
thing like pouring some more water or putting some more mushrooms 
on the steak. 32. Telling me in a shrill voice all about her rings and 
earrings and bracelets and chains and strings of precious stones. 
33. To look for a job instead of staying at home and waiting for a job 
to come and ring the doorbell. 34. To ride in such a crowded trolley 
was too much for the nervous lady. 35. Saving the child's pennies 
by putting them into a tin box with a chain around it. 36. Begin- 
ning right is half the battle. 37. To begin right and never go wrong 
after that. 38. Winifred, in a spotless, new, white sweater, being 
splashed in that way by a careless chauffeur. 39. Major Lovejoy, 
looking neither to right nor left, was gazed at with wonder by all the 
small boys. 40. At the end of the summer, after working like a slave 
for sixty-nine days, to have in the bank only $47. 41. It is not. 
42. A house that had stood through the storms of ninety winters 
without ever being painted. 



198 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON 96 

Oral Composition 27 

When you try to tell another person how to take a certain 
position which requires a little skill, you have a task that will 
make you use words to the best of your ability. Officers in 
the United States Army spent years in working out the plainest 
and clearest explanation of the position of the soldier at at- 
tention. It was changed many times, until now, as it stands 
in the drill-books, this explanation seems to be practically 
perfect, and so plain that even an ignorant soldier can under- 
stand it. Notice how carefully the words are chosen, and how 
the positions of parts of the body are given in order. It 
begins, naturally, by telling how to place the feet. If a boy 
will stand before the class and obey each of the instructions 
as it is read to him, we can prove whether the explanation is 
a good one. 

1. Heels on the same line and together. 

2. Feet turned out equally, and forming an angle of about forty- 
five degrees. 

3. Knees straight without stiffness. 

4. Hips level and drawn back slightly; body erect and resting 
equally on the hips; chest lifted and arched; shoulders square and 
falling equally. 

5. Arms and hands hanging naturally; thumb along the seam of 
the trousers. 

6. Head erect and squarely to the front; chin drawn in so that the 
axis of the head and neck is vertical; eyes straight to the front. 

7. Weight of the body resting equally on the heels and the balls 
of the feet. 

Turn to the description of a soldier on page 176 and tell 
how it is different from this explanation in the order which 
it uses. The order of one is just as good as that of the other, 
but the two pieces of work are intended for entirely different 
purposes. Good order of parts is just as important in ex- 
planation as in description. It is necessary to make those 



TO ExNGLISH 199 

who read or listen to our explanations understand exactly 
what we are telling them. 

Exercise. Prepare an oral explanation of how to perform 
one of the feats mentioned below. In every one of them a 
great deal depends upon the position of the body. Practice 
until you are sure you make the best possible explanation. 

1. How to stand when batting 

2. Taking the proper position at the piano 

3. How to stand and hold the flag for wigwag signaling 

4. Throwing a foul in basketball 

5. Saving a drowning person 

6. How the football center should take position for a long pass 

7. Using a scythe 

8. How to tread water 

9. How a golfer makes a long drive 

10. How to hold the violin and the bow 

The Right Forms 23 
drink — drank — have or has drunk 

1. The dry earth drank the rain. 

2. The child hasn't drunk his milk. 

3. He has drunk too much ice-water. 

4. Who drank all that lemonade? 

5. Deer drank from this pond then. 

6. Has this horse drunk any water? 

7. I never drank from a better spring. 

8. Have I drunk from the right bucket? 

9. The soldiers drank hot coffee. 

10. They had drunk none for five days. 

11. The travelers had drunk no water that day. 

12. I drank the last drop in my canteen. 

13. He has drunk four cups of tea. 

14. Just now he drank a fifth one. 

15. I could not have drunk so much. 

16. We had eaten and drunk our fill. 



200 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON 97 

Spelling 42 

Review Spelling 31, page 165. 

How many years ago were you told in school about led for 
verbs? It is not so hard as ies, but sometimes it needs a little 
attention in the seventh and eighth years. Turn back to 
Spelling 11, page 87, and write out the ied form of every 
verb spoken of there — like cried, tried, etc. 

Learn three el words today: level, nickel, angel. Of course 
there are many other words in el, but these are the commonest 
ones. Most pupils can spell level. More than half the pupils 
in the country can spell nickel with an el. But angel is different. 
It is a hard word. Some people will never be certain of the 
spelling unless they put it with another el in a nonsense sentence : 
You can buy a picture of an angel for a nickel." 

People used to say, "It is three of the clock." They left 
out / and the. Where these letters were left out, an apostrophe 
was put in. So we must always write o'clock. 

Punctuation 6 
Commas with Appositives 

A noun that is set alongside another noun to explain it is 
called an "appositive." It should have a comma on each 
side. 

1. Merkle, the first-baseman, fumbled the bunt. 

2. McLoughlin, a Calif ornian, was defeated by Williams, the 
Harvard player. 

3. New York, the second largest city in the world, has a popula- 
tion of over five million. 

Of course there is no comma after player, because it is the end 
of a sentence. You see that the appositive player is modified 
by Harvard. 



TO ENGLISH 201 

There may be several words with an appositive. The 
whole group is surrounded by commas, thus: 

4. Their cottage, a frame building about eighteen feet square, 
was lifted bodily. 

Pronouns may be in apposition. 

5. Please pass the smallest one, the one on your left. 

Punctuate the sentences on Sheet 6 of the "Comma Book," 
putting in the proper commas with the appositives. In three 
of the sentences there is no appositive. 



LESSON 98 

Letters 17 
Order Letters 



When you write a letter ordering goods, you should be careful 
to make clear exactly what you want. If the merchant has 
to guess, it is likely that you will not be satisfied. Sometimes 
you will need to specify colors, sizes, catalog numbers, prices, 
etc. It is a good plan to study the descriptions and instruc- 
tions about ordering that appear in the catalog or adver- 
tisement, and then to put the necessary matter in your 
letter. 

When you are about to write an order letter, you should ask 
yourself two questions. 

1. Shall I send the money in stamps, by postal or express 
money-order, or by bank draft? 

2. Do I want these goods shipped by mail, parcels post, 
express, or freight? 

Study the first letter on page 202. Notice the form and 
position of all the parts. Does this letter give all necessary 
particulars? 



202 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Leighton, Pa. 
September 15, 1919 

Schulman Music House 

23 Gilbert Street 

Philadelphia, Pa. 

Gentlemen : 

I am inclosing a bank draft for $5.20 (five dollars and twenty cents). 

Please send me by express the following records: 

Angel's Serenade (Braga) — McCormack-Kreisler, 89103 $2.00 

Beautiful Days Waltz (Falco) — Pietro, 17551 85 

Annie Laurie (Scott) Soprano — Melba, 88551 1.50 

Hiawatha Two Step (Moret) — Sousa's Band, 17252 85 



$5.20 



Yours very truly, 

* W. J. Kimball 

The CO. Deaton Sporting Goods Co., 171 Forbush Street, 
Boston, Mass., advertises the following articles. They pre- 
pay the mail or express charges on all orders. 

Perfection casting rods — $4.75 each 
High-quality steel casting rod — $3.00 
Double-multiplying, nickel -plated reel (50 yard) — $1.65 
50 yards of good braided casting-line — $1.35 

The Striped Demon baits, one kind for trout and another for 
bass — 75 cents each 

Exercise. Write an order for at least three of these items. 
Do not forget to state the form in which the money is sent. 
Fold the letter to envelope size, and address the outside of 
the fold. 



LESSON 98 A 

Letters 18 

Suppose that you are a business man. It is nine o'clock 
in the morning. You have just come into your office, sat 
down at your desk, and begun to read the mail that has arrived. 
You pick up an envelope which has a very unpleasing appear- 
ance. The stamp has been put on at an angle. The address 



TO ENGLISH 203 

has been scrawled with a scratchy pen. The envelope bears 
the smudges made by fingers that are none too clean. Inside 
that envelope you find this letter. What is your opinion 
of the writer as you read? 

Gilman, Kansas 
October 5, 1920 
Shotter and Sons 

Gilman 
Dear Sirs: 

I was told that you wanted a boy to clerk in your store, so I thought. 
I would apply. I am 14 yrs. of age. I am now going to high school, 
but do not think I will be in school much longer, for I think I am 
wasting time there, and I want to get into a business and earn money. 
I could get a job on a farm that belongs to my uncle, but think I would 
like to work in a store better. It would not make much difference 
what kind of work I did, but I would like to get off Sat. afternoons. 

If you can give me a job at $15 dollars a week or a little better, 
you can call me up at my house about six o'clock any evening. Then 
I can come down and we can talk the matter over. Probably I would 
have stayed in school, but the principal has not given me a square 
deal, and my mother will tell you so if you ask her. I am very sure 
that I will be a good clerk in your store, because I like to dress well 
and have a strong personality. Please let me know soon if you can 
use me. 

Yours truly, 

Frank Mitchell 

P. S. I would like, if I could, to get my clothes at wholesale 
prices, too. 

Let the members of the class discuss this letter. Give as 
many reasons as you can why it is the wrong kind. 

On page 204 we have another letter of application. It is a 
very great deal better than the first one, though, of course, 
it is not perfect. If you were an employer, and were obliged to 
choose between the two applicants, you would not hesitate 
long. Yet there is one thing about the sentences of the second 
letter that makes them seem a little too much alike. Who can 
find this fault? 



204 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

121 East Reynolds Street 
Fulton, Wisconsin 
June 20, 1921 
C. B. Williams and Co. 
14 Third Avenue 
Fulton 
Gentlemen : 

Having seen your advertisement in the Tribune for an office boy, 
I apply for the place. 

I am fifteen years old, and have just finished the eighth grade. I 
write a good, plain hand, and have received almost the highest grades 
in my class in arithmetic. I can also use a typewriter, though not 
very fast. Last summer I worked as office boy in the office of the 
Canning and Preserving Company, and refer you to Mr. R. D. Siple 
as to my work there. 

I also give for reference Mr. Joseph H. Grier, principal of the 
Grant School, and Miss Mary Taylor, teacher of arithmetic. 

I shall be very glad to call for a personal interview if you wish to 
have me do so. 

Very truly yours, 

Kenneth Schuyler 

Prepare to give your opinions on these questions: 

What matters should be mentioned in a letter of application? 

Might it be well for the writer of a letter of application 
to give his telephone number? 

Would it be a good plan to inclose a photograph? 

Should one say anything about the salary or wages expected? 

What kinds of persons should be given as references? 

Why is it advisable to state the education and experience 
of the writer? 

Should such a letter be long or short? Why? 

What kind of stationery do you think should be used in 
applying for a position? 

Should a letter of this kind be typewritten, or in your own 
handwriting ? Why ? 

Should an applicant seem confident or timid about his 
ability? 

If you were writing such a letter, what mistakes would you 
need to look out for? 



TO ENGLISH 205 

LESSON 98 B 

Letters 19 

Exercise. Supposing yourself to be a high-school graduate 
and sixteen years old, write a letter of application in reply 
to one of these advertisements. Fold the letter and place 
it in a properly addressed envelope. Imagine that you really 
want the place. Think of some city not far from your home. 

GIRL — OFFICE: 16 years old; high-school education; must be 
quick at figures and able to write a good hand. Salary $12. Give 
references and state training and experience fully. J. C. 266, Tribune. 

BOY— OFFICE WORK: 16 to 18 years old; high-school graduate; 
with large manufacturing concern. Splendid opportunity for ad- 
vancement. Salary $12 a week at start. Apply in your own hand- 
writing, giving qualifications and references. Address B. E. 570, 
Tribune. 



SUMMARY OF MINIMUM ABILITY FOR MID-YEAR 
PROMOTION 

1. Of Part I. The pupil should show a mastery of the 
principles of Part I. Many of the lessons of Part II furnish 
a review and continuation of the material of Part I — e. g., no 
new principles of sentence work are introduced, but extended 
exercises of somewhat greater difficulty are furnished in 
Lessons 75-78. The same method is used for spelling and for 
some elements of grammar (see below) and for punctuation. 

2. Spelling. The pupil should have mastered, by frequent 
review, the endings of y verbs (26, page 153; 42, page 200) 
and of y nouns (27, page 157). He should be able to form 
the contractions of verbs with not (31, page 165), to double 
the final consonants of verbs (38, page 185; 41, page 195), 
and to write with two Z's such adverbs as finally, really, natur- 
ally, generally, usually, carefully (39, page 188). He should 
be able to spell the following words in dictated sentences: 
bear, tear, wear, break, great, just, catch, new, something, road 
(27, page 157) ; together, without, the solid ever words, the solid 
where words, February, Wednesday, necessary (34, page 171); 
describe, description, despair, destroy, women, the superlative of 
adjectives, there, sentences, speech, week, effect, whether, except, 
evening (35, page 174) ; divide, definite, final, level, nickel, angel, 
o'clock (42, page 200). 

3. Grammar. The early lessons in grammar are merely 
review and continuation (in more explicit form) of the "Sen- 
tence Work" lessons of Part I. By the middle of the eighth 
year the pupil should recognize readily nouns (l, page 150) 
and pronouns (6, page 175; 7, page 183); should be able to 
distinguish readily between verbs and verbals (10, page 196), 
and to find the subject of any verb in a principal clause (2, 
page 153; 5, page 168; 6, page 175; 9, page 192). He should 
be able to explain the use of nouns and pronouns as objects 
of prepositions (3, page 158) ; to use the accusative of pro- 
nouns with prepositions (9, page 192) ; to explain appositives 

200 



TO ENGLISH 207 

(Punctuation 6, page 200); and to use the singular pronoun 
and verb to refer to each, neither, etc. (8, page 185). 

4. Punctuation. In addition to the requirements of Part I, 
the pupil should be able to use readily in dictated sentences 
the comma in a series (2, page 156), with dates (3, page 171), 
with addresses (4, page 190), and with appositives (6, page 200). 

5. Oral Composition. Thus far Part II has attempted 
to develop in a progressive way the principles taught in Part I 
rather than to add new ones. It is evident, then, that at this 
stage the pupil should be held responsible for more careful 
observance of the essentials of Part I, as extended in Part II. 
Oral composition should now display increased skill in the use 
of connectives and in the orderly arrangement of parts. Ex- 
planations of simple processes should now be given much more 
effectively than at the close of Part I, judging by the under- 
standing of the listeners. Correctness in speech should have 
been aided by reviews of the "Right Forms," and the knowl- 
edge should be growing rapidly into habit. 

6. Written Composition. It cannot be expected that all 
pupils can show marked ability to write narrative that is 
especially lively or diverting, or description that has much 
mood or atmosphere. Some can display these graces, and these 
should be encouraged; but care and correctness in form and 
organization are as much as we can demand for promotion. 
The passing pupil should be able to write themes of from one 
to four short paragraphs which are precisely right in form, and 
which show the effectiveness that results from following a 
clear time or space order. Quotation marks should be used 
infallibly. The principles of punctuation which have been 
drilled upon should be habitually observed in themes. 

7. Dictionary Work. The pupil should be tested as to his 
ability to use the dictionary efficiently. It will be unsafe to 
assume that all are able to alphabetize or to understand the 
meanings of commonly used dictionary symbols. Consequently 
tests based on the dictionary lessons in Part I should be given 
to determine whether pupils have the essential knowledge. 



208 



THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 




t . 



H : "f/^i : .'r 



TO ENGLISH 209 

LESSON 98 C 

Written Composition 3? 

Any pupil who learns a little about the sufferings of Armenia, 
and what our country did to relieve them, will always be glad 
of his knowledge. It is a stirring chapter of history and full 
of meaning for the future. 

Put yourself in the place of one of the Armenian children who, 
as shown in the picture on page 208, have formed themselves 
into letters to say thank you to the Near East Relief Association. 
In a written composition explain why the Armenians were 
grateful, how they formed the letters and the star, and how 
they arranged to be photographed. 



LESSON 99 

Spelling 43 



Have you ever seen words that end in lieve? One of them 
is very common. It is — are you looking carefully? — believe. 
Another one has the same i followed by the same e, relieve. 
The nouns have the same ie — belief, relief. "This belief was 
a relief to the thief." 

The point of today's lesson is that the i comes first. There 
are dozens and dozens of such words, in which i comes before 
e: piece, field, fierce. We are not going to learn dozens, but 
will simply look at a few. 

No one of them is so common or so important as believe. 
Make a sentence in which you put both believe and relieve. 
Be ready to give it in class if the teacher calls for it. Can you 
make a sentence — a short one easy to remember — in which 
you put believe, relieve, and piece? If anybody in your class 
can make such a sentence and put it on the board, he will 
be teaching spelling. It might be a good plan for him to 
draw an arrow pointing to the i that comes before e. Or he 



210 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

might print a big IE in each word. The teacher will be glad 
to hear of any way you can think of to stamp "i before e" 
in the mind of everybody. 

Before you go to class, be sure that you can spell answer, 
with a w after the s. 

Is there room in your mind to store two more e words? 
One is interest. The other is benefit. "Are you interested 
in the two e's in benefit?" 

Grammar 11 

Predicate Nominative 

In the sentences below you will see that the noun after the 
verb means the same thing as the subject and explains the 
subject. Such nouns are called "predicate nominatives." 

1. A note is a promise to pay. 

2. The men of this gang were Mexicans. 

3. The sword-fish is a fierce creature. 

4. These covered wagons were called "prairie schooners." 

5. The canary was named Tootsie. 

6. She had once been a clerk in a bank. 

7. You may be a senator some day. 

8. A hundred dollars seemed a small price. 

9. A tiger is only one kind of cat. 

In each of the nineteen sentences below there is a noun 
after the verb. Decide whether it is a subject or a predicate 
nominative. 

1. The fellows in our party were mostly boys from Maine. 
2. Their new house is a little cement building. 3. The candlestick was 
a solid mass of beaten gold. 4. Inside these lines there was safety. 
5. A carburetor is an apparatus for mixing air and vapor. 6. These 
smokestacks had been the cause of much complaint. 7. Y^ou might 
have been an experienced stenographer by this time. 8. In the dog's 
mouth was the same old bone. 9. The pickets at the White House 
were women. 10. He may be the boss some day. 11. The loss of 
his money was a great blow to him. 12. A race-horse is a rather use- 
less animal. 13. Was there any fur inside the collar? 14. In this 
deserted valley there had once been ten thousand people. 15. Among 



TO ENGLISH 211 

these letters was a photograph of himself. 16. That would have 
been a pleasant surprise. 17. The old man became a perfect child 
in some ways. 18. These figures beyond the dot are called decimals. 
19. At such a time a rifle would have been a very handy weapon. 

The Right Forms 24 
ride — rode — have or has ridden 

1. Who rode with you? 

2. My sister rode with me. 

3. Have you ridden far? 

4. We have ridden forty miles. 

5. I have ridden in an airplane. 

6. He had ridden his horse into the water. 

7. You might have ridden in the back seat. 

8. Has this colt ever been ridden? 

9. Only the cowboys have ridden him. 

10. The messenger had ridden all night. 

11. Have you ever ridden in a locomotive? 

12. The family had ridden in the wagon. 

13. She ought to have ridden the bay pony. 

14. He has ridden his wheel all winter. 

15. I haven't ridden a motorcycle since that day. 

16. The boy had ridden for a doctor. 



LESSON 100 

Written Composition 38 

In Whittier's Snow-Bound is a picture of a winter fireside 
which you probably know. It is good enough to be read 
many times. 

Shut in from all the world without, 
We sat the clean-winged hearth about, 
Content to let the north-wind roar 
In baffled rage at pane and door, 
While the red logs before us beat 
The frost-line back with tropic heat; 



212 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

And ever, when a louder blast 
Shook beam and rafter as it passed, 
The merrier up its roaring draught 
The great throat of the chimney laughed; 
The house-dog on his paws outspread 
Laid to the fire his drowsy head ; 
The cat's dark silhouette on the wall 
A couchant tiger's seemed to fall; 
And, for the winter fireside meet, 
Between the andiron's straddling feet, 
The mug of cider simmered slow, 
The apples sputtered in a row, 
And, close at hand, the basket stood, 
With nuts from brown October's wood. 

Exercise. Read this description over several times. As 
you read, try to imagine the sights and the sounds. Notice 
the action in the verbs. See if you can feel something, too. 
Then close your book, and describe the scene in your own 
words. Write short, complete sentences. Don't use the 
verbs was and were too often. Whittier avoided them al- 
together. 

LESSON 101 

Spelling 44 

Review Spelling 34, page 171. 

Instead of writing "I have" we may leave out the h and the a, 
and put in an apostrophe: I've. 

Instead of the w and the i in "I will" we could put an apos- 
trophe, and so have Til. Remember that no letters are added 
for a contraction. We merely put an apostrophe where some 
letters are omitted. 

Instead of "I am" we can write Tm. From "I should" we 
might take out five letters — quite a subtraction! — and put 
one little apostrophe to fill the big hole — Td. 

That is not saying that we ought to make such contractions 
in a composition. They should be used only when we need to 
show how people spoke rapidly. 



TO ENGLISH 213 

Tell how the following contractions were made: they're, 
we're, you re, you've, we'll. 

Many times in the spelling sections you have seen the word 
probably. Have you really seen it — seen each letter? Do 
you know that there are two b's? 

Have you ever misspelled since? It is not a hard word, 
but it is worth looking at to be sure. 

The same can be said for quite — as in "He's quite well again." 
"It's quite a long distance." 

There are no good words to pair with these three. Some 
persons remember probably by saying that it is the "bably" 
word. You might think of "since he is sincere." If you 
know that requite means "to pay back," you can say, "I 
can't quite requite you." 

Punctuation 7 

Punctuate the sentences on Sheet 7, putting in every comma 
that is called for by the rules you have had. You must think of : 

1. Yes and no. 4. Dates and addresses. 

2. Nouns of address. 5. Appositives. 

3. Words in a series. 6. Periods and question marks. 



LESSON 102 

Grammar 12 
Adjectives 
word that describes* a noun or pronoun is an adjective. 



1. 


a wide porch 


7. 


some muddy wheels 


2. 


his strong, brown arms 


8. 


a noisy room 


3. 


your funny answer 


9. 


the bright sunshine 


4. 


a six-cylinder car 


10. 


I am lucky 


5. 


the tall steeple 


11. 


the ripe ones 


6. 


a hot, sultry day 


12. 


a better, safer way 



*This is, of course, not a definition. The way in which all adjectives "modify" is explained 
in Lesson 111. 



214 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

In each of the following sentences there are three adjectives 
with nouns. Find each and prepare to recite thus : "High is an 
adjective. It describes the noun ridges." 

1. A pretty girl in a blue cap sat in the last seat. 2. Solon tossed 
up huge forkfuls of the sweet hay into the dusty barn. 3. A good, 
safe foundation could be made out of this slippery sand. 4. On the 
far side of the stream were the young calves, which dreaded the plunge 
into the swift brook. 5. Delicious, glossy, sweet-looking raisins are 
shown in the picture. 6. The jury of good and true men sat deliber- 
ating a long time. 7. Why not use a non-burning paint that has a 
good appearance and is a positive barrier against fire? 8. A copper 
wire was put through a small opening and was insulated by means of 
a rubber tube. 9. A similar product is now made at our new factory 
by an entirely different process. 10. The net income of this huge 
corporation is now filed in the secret records of the Department of 
Justice. 

Predicate Adjectives 

We have studied nouns used as predicate nominatives 
to explain the subjects. Adjectives are used in the same way 
to describe the subject. When so used, they are called "predi- 
cate adjectives." 

1. The winter days are short. 

2. The pineapple tasted good. 

3. His voice sounds hoarse. 

4. That seems queer. 

5. The snow actually felt warm. 

6. A cheer at that time would have been wrong. 

In each of the next twenty sentences there is a word after 
the verb. Decide whether it is a subject, a predicate nomi- 
native, or a predicate adjective. 

1. Henry was full of fun. 2. Dorothy looked angry. 3. Your 
statement sounds attractive to me. 4. On the next corner stood a 
laundry. 5. Tapa is a kind of cloth. 6. When will there ever be 
any time for such fooling? 7. To her sensitive nose the milk seemed 
sour. 8. The clover smells good to me. 9. Is he well now? 10. In 
union there is strength. 11. At the bottom of the well was a lot of 



TO ENGLISH 215 

deadly gas. 12. Up the whole height of this narrow tower goes a 
flight of winding stairs. 13. The nursery will be the place for such 
romping. 14. The boy's movements were very slow. 15. Mr. 
Corcoran was a man of his word. 16. A "reticule'' was a hand-bag 
carried by ladies. 17. The United States is a democracy. 18. Our 
new car is a sedan. 19. A slap in the face would have been the 
proper answer. 20. In the top drawer was a box of pencils. 



LESSON 103 



Written Composition 30 
A Curious Experiment 

When this little book was being written, a certain man said 
that eighth-year pupils could not understand a paragraph 
in which Stevenson tells about the odors of the sea and the 
odors of the forest. He believed that the words were too hard 
for young people to understand, and that the description 
w r ould, as he put it, "go clear over their heads." Maybe 
y r ou will like to try the passage, and see just how much of it 
you can get. How high over your head does it go ? How many 
of those hard words are too much for you? 

Surely of all smells in the world, the smell of many trees is the 
sweetest and most fortifying. The sea has a riide, pistoling sort of 
odor, that takes you in the nostrils like snuff, and carries with it a 
fine sentiment of open water and tall ships, but the smell of a forest, 
which comes nearest to this in tonic quality, surpasses it in many 
degrees by the quality of softness. Again, the smell of the sea has 
little variety, but the smell of the forest is infinitely changeful; it 
varies with the hour of the day, not, in strength merely, but in char- 
acter; and the different sorts of trees, as you go from one zone of the 
wood to another, seem to live among different kinds of atmosphere. 
Usually the resin of the fir predominates. But some woods are more 
coquettish in their habits; and the breath of the forest of Mormal, 
as it came aboard upon us that showery afternoon, was perfumed 
with nothing less delicate than sweetbrier. 

This is a different sort of assignment from any that you 
have had. Try your best, even though you are afraid you 



216 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

may not do very well. Remember some odors which in your 
memory connect themselves with one of the places mentioned 
below, or another which you like better. Write a short de- 
scription in which you try to put your memory into words. 
Make your reader feel as you do. 

1. The back door of a farmhouse at five-thirty a. m. 

2. The river bank in August 

3. An evening early in May 

4. The greenhouse 

5. An outdoor spot on an October afternoon 

6. The printing office 

7. Feeding the cows 

8. A blacksmith shop 

9. At the merry-go-round 
10. Just before the rain 



LESSON 104 

Spelling 45 



Review Spelling 35, page 174. 

Remind yourself again of that important ie word believe. 
Piece has an ie; apiece must also have ie. The same ie is in 
brief and chief. Is your eye learning to see, and your hand to 
write, ie? 

In view you have the same "i before e." Therefore the 
same ie must be in revieiv. 

Strangely enough (for the sound is very different) the same 
ie is in friend. Make a short sentence that contains believe 
and friend. If anyone in the class could put believe and friend 
and review in one short sentence, he would do a good piece 
of work. 

Can you think of a word that has "r p r" in it? That is a 
very unusual combination of letters, yet it is found in a common 
word — surprise. Think of sur+ prise, with two black r's in it. 



TO ENGLISH 217 

Have you been taught to spell shoulder with a u? If you 
put it with boulder and say "put your shoulder to the boulder" 
you can always remember it. 

Or you could put shoulder with two other ou words, double 
and trouble. Or you could keep these two together and say 
"double the trouble" 

See if you can remember pleasant all by itself, with two a's 
in it. 

Punctuation 8 

Punctuate the sentences on Sheet 8, putting in all the marks 
required by the list of rules for Punctuation 7, page 213. 



LESSON 104 A 

Letters 20 



Let each pupil clip from a newspaper two "help wanted" 
advertisements such as might interest young people of your 
age and training. Let one of these be for a boy and one for 
a girl. Then the advertisements may be exchanged, and 
applications written in class. 

The Right Forms 25 

is not — isn't: has not — hasn't 

1. Isn't breakfast ready? 

2. No, it isn't ready yet. 

3. He hasn't treated me fairly. 

4. Who hasn't any apple? 

5. This isn't the right book. 

6. Hasn't your sled come? 

7. It hasn't been ordered. 

8. She isn't a true friend. 

9. Hasn't Nell written to you? 



218 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

10. It isn't her turn to write. 

.11. Hasn't the train gone? 

12. It hasn't come in yet. 

13. Isn't this a good story? 

14. It isn't as good as the first one. 

15. He hasn't enough money. 

16. Your statement hasn't been proved. 

17. How do you know it hasn't? 

18. He isn't sure about it. 

19. Why isn't he sure? 

20. He hasn't heard the whole story. . 

21. Hasn't he heard the news? 

22. Perhaps he isn't interested. 



LESSON 105 

Punctuation 9 



Some pupils do not learn anything when they punctuate 
sentences as an exercise in a book. They may do well; they 
may understand perfectly when to use commas and quotation 
marks. But they are not learning anything. 

What should they learn? They should be thinking as they 
work with each sentence: "This is the way I must always use 
commas in my own writing. I must form the habit of always 
using commas in these ways. Unless I form those habits, 
I am not learning anything." 

Always read a sentence through before trying to punctuate 
it. Be certain that you understand what it means, or what 
meaning it would have if it were properly punctuated. Then 
think of the rules which you have learned and see whether 
any one of them would cause you to insert a comma, a period, 
a quotation mark, or a question mark in the particular sen- 
tence you are studying. Never use a mark without a reason. 

Punctuate the sentences on Sheet 9. 



TO ENGLISH 219 

LESSON 106 

Oral Composition 28 

A good description of a person should give us a few hints 
of what sort of person he is — that is, what kind of disposition 
he has, and what kind of life he lives. If the composition 
is written chiefly to make a picture, we call it a description. 
But if the main purpose of it is to make us understand the 
character of the person, we call it a "character sketch." 

Here is a character sketch written by a girl of about your 
age. How do you like the plan of beginning with a little 
verse? The composition makes a picture, but it also does 
something more than that. 

Mr. Wooster sold a rooster 
To some summer folk; 
It made him laugh 
For an hour and a half 
Though there wasn't any joke. 

This is our friend of the good old summer time, the genial farmer 
who sells us his vegetables and his chickens for our camp. He is a 
short, pompous little fellow who fills out his blue bib overalls until 
you would say they were a very snug fit indeed. He always wears 
an old black hat, and stands with his thumbs hitched under the straps 
of his overalls while he talks. Although his mouth is partially hidden 
by a short mustache, you can see that it has a funny way of curling 
up at the corners, and his double chin touches his neck when he 
starts to laugh. 

I am sure that no other man ever laughed as loudly or half as often 
as Mr. Wooster does. We know so well that he will start the minute 
we stop the car to ask about a chicken that we ourselves start to laugh 
a half mile down the road, in anticipation of the never-failing ha, ha's 
of this "merry old soul." 

Chapter 1 of Treasure Island, called "The Old Buccaneer," 
introduces a very interesting person. It tells not only how 
he looked, but what he said and how he behaved. In fact, 
it gives us a complete character sketch of the old rogue, with 



220 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

a story woven into it. Read some chapter of this sort, and 
prepare to give an oral sketch of a character. First tell about 
his appearance. Then go on to tell of his words and actions. 
Try to help your hearers imagine that this interesting person 
stands before them. Of course, you will let your voice fall 
as you end each sentence. You will not forget to pause between 
sentences, so that all may know where one sentence ends and 
another begins. When you come to the end of each paragraph 
in your talk, say, "Paragraph." 

If it is hard to find such a chapter, you may give instead a 
character sketch of one of your best friends. Follow the plan 
explained above. 



LESSON 107 

Spelling 46 

It may be asking a good deal of you to expect you to put two 
r's in occurred. But this is a word that you will be using fre- 
quently, and it will be easier if you learn the right spelling now. 
Put two r's in occurred, two r's in occurring, and two r's in 
occurrence. 

Another double-letter word of the same kind, a very common 
one, is beginning. Put two n's between the two i's. Make 
it a habit to double the n in beginning. 

Perhaps you could also learn another hard word, control, 
ending with a single I. We have to write, with two Z's, con- 
trolled, controlling. 

If you can learn these few forms now, you will be saved a 
great deal of extra work next year, and you will be glad all 
your life that you have the right habits. 

Punctuation 10 

Carefully punctuate the sentences on Sheet 10. This lesson 
is another review. By this time you should be able to do almost 
perfect work. 



TO ENGLISH 221 

LESSON 107 A 

Oral Composition 29 

In the following passage Irving tells us about a man whom 
his family tried in vain to make over into a fine gentleman. 

The only one of the family that could not be made fashionable was 
the retired butcher himself. Honest Lamb, in spite of the meekness 
of his name, was a rough, hearty old fellow, with the voice of a lion, 
a head of black hair like a shoe-brush, and a broad face mottled like 
his own beef. It was in vain that his daughters always spoke of him 
as "the old gentleman," addressed him as "papa" in tones of infinite 
softness, and endeavored to coax him into a dressing-gown and slip- 
pers and other gentlemanly habits. Do what they might, there was 
no keeping down the butcher. His sturdy nature would break through 
all their pretenses. He had a hearty, vulgar good-humor which they 
could not repress. His very jokes made his sensitive daughters 
shudder; and he persisted in wearing his old blue cotton coat of a 
morning, dining at two o'clock, and having "a bit of sausage with 
his tea." 

Exercise. Plan and write a short character sketch of a 
peculiar person whom you know. Make your readers see and 
hear, but most of all, make them understand what the person 
is like in thoughts and habits. Don't try to be stinging or sar- 
castic. Remember that Irving makes us rather like the butcher, 
and that we sympathize with his daughters at the same time. 



LESSON 108 

Spelling 47 

You have had a lesson in getting rid of e — striking it off a 
verb before adding ing. You have had two lessons in getting 
rid of y at the end of a verb like cry and try. First you knock 
off the y, and then you add ies and ied, to form cries and cried, 
tries and tried, carries and carried. 



222 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

You must in the same way get rid of the y of adjectives like 
busy or easy or heavy or happy before you add an ending. And 
you must put in an i. If you then add er, you will have, putting 
in the i: 

busier easier heavier luckier happier 

If you add est, you will have, putting in the i: 

busiest easiest heaviest luckiest happiest 

If you add an ly, you will have, by inserting the i: 
busily easily heavily luckily happily 

Exactly the same change must come before ness: 

business easiness heaviness luckiness happiness 

Now comes an important warning. You have not been told 
that "y must always be changed to i." You have been told 
only about five adjectives. You may have seen that in each 
one there is a consonant before the y — that is, s, v, k, p. You 
change only when there is a consonant before y. 

Next comes another old, familiar statement. One word in 
this lesson is much more important than any other — business. 
Some in the class have already formed a wrong habit of writing 
this common and necessary word. They will have a hard strug- 
gle to overcome the habit. Unless they think of in e s s, and 
keep thinking, and write the word in sentences of their own for 
practice, they will never learn to spell bus i ness. 

There are three others that you ought to make sure of in this 
lesson. Carefully and slowly — by changing y to i — add ly to 
lucky and see what you get. Write down the adjective lonely, 
with an e in it; carefully change y to i and add ness: then once 
more write out, with the e and the i, loneliness. Knock 
the y away from happy; then add i and ness. 

Now, in review, knock the y away from busy and add i and 
ness — bus i ness. 



TO ENGLISH 223 

Grammar 13 

You are now going to be told the most important fact in 
grammar: No word is, by itself, an adjective or a noun or a verb. 
If we put "secret" on the board, we probably think it is a noun, 
because we think of "a secret." But if we see the word in "the 
secret records," we know that it tells what kind of records; it is 
an adjective. So if "copper" is written on the board, we think 
it is a noun, for it is the name of a metal. But if we see the 
word in "a copper wire" we find that here it is an adjective, be- 
cause it describes the noun wire. And if we see it in "The 
carpenters copper the ship," we know that it is a verb; it states 
that the carpenters are doing something — they are covering 
the ship with copper plates. 

From now on a large part of our work will be to tell what 
words do in sentences. We know nothing about a word until 
we see it at work. If it is working as a name, it is a noun. If 
it stands in place of a noun, it is a pronoun. If it is making a 
statement or asking a question, it is a verb. If it is describing 
a noun, it is an adjective. 

Find every noun, every verb, and every adjective in the next 
twenty sentences. 

1. The heat came from a black radiator. 2. We heat our house 
at a cost of $126 a year. 3. Things cost more in those war times. 
4. The men of Panama faced their enemies in war. 5. The birds 
war against the silver moths. 6. Turn the light on this pile of silver. 
7. A light snowfall makes no sound. 8. The stars light up the sky. 
9. The moon silvers all the black hills. 10. The red will not show 
against the black. 11. She blacks the stove with an old felt mitten. 
12. Taste this mixture. 13. It is not to my taste. 14. We felt the 
snow on our faces. 15. The face value of the note is $100. 16. We 
then noted down the figures. 17. He is a noted lecturer. 18. It is 
a good, sound apple. 19. Felt hammers deaden the sound. 20. The 
wires will not sound if felt is pressed against them. 21. That wire 
will certainly burn you if you take hold of it. 22. A burn like that is 
very hard to heal. 23. Put your toes on this white line. 24. You 
will have to toe the mark. 25. He will paper one of the rooms to- 
morrow. 26. The scarcity of paper caused the Journal much trouble. 
27. He had a little paper cap. 



224 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON 109 

Oral Composition 30 

The Battle of King's Mountain 

During the Revolutionary War, General Ferguson led a British 
army into South Carolina. In a short time he defeated and scattered 
the American forces there. Some of the Americans escaped into the 
mountains along the western frontier, where they were protected by 
the stout mountaineers who lived in those wild recesses. When 
Ferguson heard of this, he threatened to march westward into the 
mountains and lay waste the frontier settlements. 

Angered by this threat, the fierce backwoodsmen banded together 
and came pouring down from the hills in hundreds. Each man 
had his horse and his deadly rifle. Most of them wore deerskin 
hunting-shirts and coonskin caps. Anxious for battle, they pushed 
on to find the British army. 

When Ferguson heard that the backwoodsmen were near, he drew 
up his men on a steep, narrow hill called King's Mountain. He 
believed that his trained soldiers with their bayonets could easily 
defeat the "rebels," who had nothing but rifles, and who must climb 
the high and rocky hill in making their attack. His forces numbered 
about fifteen hundred men. The Americans had only about twelve 
hundred. 

When the frontiersmen reached King's Mountain, they tied their 
horses to trees. Then, surrounding the hill on all sides, they began 
to climb upward, pausing now and then to fire a well-aimed shot. 
The British fired heavy volleys, but their fire caused more smoke and 
noise than harm to the attackers, who came scrambling up among 
rocks and trees. When the British troops charged with the bayonet, 
the Americans fell back, only to return as soon as the British had 
withdrawn to the hilltop. Again and again the redcoats charged. 
Each time the backwoodsmen, retiring before the bayonets, stub- 
bornly climbed back again, all the time pouring in a terrible rifle fire. 

At last Ferguson fell, pierced by half a dozen bullets. Fiercer and 
fiercer became the attack of the American riflemen. Some of the 
British tried to escape, but the hill was surrounded, and they were 
forced back to the summit. At last, broken and shattered, and with 
hundreds of their number laid low by American fire, the English army 
surrendered. Then the mountaineers marched away with twelve 
hundred prisoners, a number as great as their own strength at the 
beginning of the fight. 



TO ENGLISH 225 

As you read the story of the Battle of King's Mountain, no- 
tice the paragraphs. Each paragraph is a little story in itself. 
Not one could be left out. If you should change one from its 
place, you would spoil the story. Each paragraph is about one 
particular part of the story. The longest one describes the 
doubtful portion of the battle. 

See how good a title you can make for each paragraph. This 
is a harder task than you think. You may have to work for 
some time before you get a title for each paragraph which tells 
in the best words just what the whole 'paragraph is about. When 
you have made five paragraph titles, you will have an outline 
of the story. Write the five heads of the outline on a card. 

Now with your outline in your hand, stand before the class 
and tell in your own words the story of the battle. Remind 
yourself that you must pause distinctly at the end of each sen- 
tence. Read aloud the title of each paragraph before you tell 
the part of the story that belongs under that title. 



LESSON 109 A 

Written Composition 40 

Exercise. Using the outline which you made before, write 
the story of the battle without opening your book. Number the 
paragraphs, and write before each the title which you have in 
your outline. 



LESSON 110 

Spelling 48 

You have studied some adjectives in al — real, final, natural, 
general, usual. Our language has hundreds of al adjectives. 
One of them is principal, as in "the principal reason," "the 
principal men." The principal teacher of a school is called "the 
principal," for short. 



226 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Put together in your mind the two a verbs, accept and affect. 
Keep them together; make each one teach the other. Accept 
means "to take to yourself"; we accept a present or accept an 
invitation. Affect means "to act on" ; a gloomy day affects us, or 
we are affected by the sunshine. Learn : "Don't accept medicine 
that doesn't affect you." 

Learn an adjective that comes from affect, affectionate. The 
e is kept if we put ly on, affectionately. The same is true of 
immediate and immediately. Can you make a sentence in which 
you put together immediately and affectionately? 

The noun weather belongs in an a lesson. Think of the a's in 
"The damp weather affects him." 

Arrange and arrangement are a words. Think of "The ar- 
rangement affects him." 

At the end of this lesson, all by itself, comes a common word 
made up of three letters and a period. Everybody knows the 
letters, but many' people do not know the order of the letters. 
First comes an e, then a t, then a c — e t c. We call etc. "and so 
forth." 

Punctuation 11 
Comma After an Introductory Clause 

You have been told to notice the commas after clauses that 
begin sentences. 

When she turned the next leaf of the magazine, she gasped in 
astonishment. 

If I let you go, will you promise never to tell? 

Whenever you begin a sentence with when or while or if or wher- 
ever or as or although or any word of that kind,* put a comma 
after the clause. A clause always contains a subject and a 
verb, like she turned, I let. Notice that the next two sen- 
tences begin with prepositions. There are no commas. 

During the rest of the day Doane kept still. 

After walking another five minutes I turned around. 

*The reference is, of course, to an adverbial clause used to begin a sentence. 



TO ENGLISH 227 

In the next sentence wishing is the subject; there must not be a 
comma between this subject and its verb will accomplish. 

Wishing for good luck will never accomplish much. 

Punctuate the sentences on Sheet 11. Thirteen of them begin 
with clauses. Find the thirteen sentences and put in the com- 
mas. While you are studying, keep thinking, "I must put a 
comma after this sort of clause in my own writing." 

The Right Forms 26 
grow — grew — have or has grown 

1. The lambs grow fat. 

2. His brother grew more than he did. 

3. They have grown up together. 

4. Sunflowers grew by the wall. 

5. The air had grown colder. 

6. The town hasn't grown any. 

7. Has she grown gray? 

8. Grass grew in the street. 

9. The young birds grew rapidly. 

10. The vine has grown over the porch. 

11. A pine tree grew by the hut. 

12. The hazel sprouts have grown up again. 

13. Have the sumachs grown too? 

14. The radishes grew better after the rain. 

15. He has outgrown all his clothes. 

16. The old dog grew feebler every day. 

17. Which child has grown most? 

18. This girl has grown three inches. 

19. The dog grew more and more excited. 

20. The school has grown very fast. 

21. Ned grew three inches after he was seventeen. 

22. No apple trees have ever grown well on this hill. 

23. The corn grew fast during those three hot days. 

24. These lemons grew in Sicily. 

25. My, how he had grown! 



228 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON 110 A 

Written Composition 41 

Exercise. Read in some history an account of a battle that 
was important in American history. Make an outline for about 
four paragraphs. Plan your story carefully so that you can 
write it in class, using only your outline of paragraph titles. 
Make up your mind as to how you will get the story started 
without wasting words. Decide also to make a prompt ending 
as soon as the story is really finished. 

While you are interested in the subject of famous American 
battles, you will enjoy reading Grandmother s Story of Bunker 
Hill Battle , by Oliver Wendell Holmes. Perhaps your teacher 
or a librarian can tell you where to find it. 



LESSON 111 



Grammar 14 
The Kinds of Adjectives 

We have learned that Indian might be a proper noun in 
"The Indian sharpened his tomahawk." But Indian will be an 
adjective if used to describe a noun, as in "The Indian baskets' 
were made of sweet grass." Other examples of these "proper 
adjectives" are: 

1. the Florida grape-fruit 3. some French pastry 

2. a Chinese mandarin 4. these American songs 

We have learned that each is a pronoun in a sentence like this : 
Each stood at his place. 

But each may be used with a noun: 

Each man was at his post. 

Here each is an adjective, because it describes a noun. Other 
examples of the same kind of adjectives are given on the 
next page. 



TO ENGLISH 229 

1. Some cards were left on the table. 

2. The carpenter made jew shavings. 

3. All the pennies were counted. 

4. Both houses face south. 

5. This road is shorter. 

6. Those windows are dirty. 

7. What number have you? 

8. Which finger was injured? 

Another kind of adjective tells how many. 

1. Ten minutes had passed. 

2. I have only one blanket. 

3. Sit in the third row. 

4. Stop at the sixth door. 

Adjectives, then, may describe or "limit" or point out or 
tell the number of nouns. An easy word for all these uses is 
"modify." We say that an adjective "modifies" a noun. 

Adjectives also modify pronouns. 

1. Each one is guaranteed. 

2. Only these few are left. 

3. Those others are better. 

4. Every one is perfect. 

A modifier of a pronoun is usually a predicate adjective. 

1. He is strong now. 

2. They are ugly in appearance. 

3. I am sure of it. 

4. She is taller than her mother. 

5. That w T ould have been dishonest. 

6. This is easy. 

7. You must have been confident. 

The little words a, an, and the are a kind of adjective. They 
are very common and easy. Their special name is "articles." 

Learn the full definition: An adjective is a word that modi- 
fies a noun or pronoun. 

In each of the following sentences there are two, and only 
two, adjectives. Find each one and tell what noun or pronoun 
it modifies. Do not count the articles in this exercise. 



230 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

1. She was eager to see each page as it was turned. 2. Some of 
us wanted to try a little salt on the delicious melon. 3. Some persons 
never can learn that idea. 4. You are welcome to our humble city. 
5. Either one of them would do us a good turn. 6. That one looks 
best to me. 7. Before him for ten miles stretched the smooth ice. 
8. Look in the top drawer, under the leather bag. 9. Several inches 
of hard frost are still in the ground. 10. Several of them are ill with 
bad colds. 11. Which hat will look best with the dress? 12. Cali- 
fornia oranges are yellower. 13. All good things come to him who 
waits. 14. Oregon apples. are now being shipped in great quantities. 
15. These knots will do no harm. 16. Must I pay seventeen dollars 
for one plate? 17. Both of you should pay attention to these little 
matters. 18. The other spoonful tasted different. 19. The gray 
spats look very neat. 20. Are those sidewalks on the left made of 
the same cement? 21. What engine was derailed in that accident? 
22. Both frisky colts were soon broken to harness. 23. One sharp 
word was all that was needed. 24. You feel better after a cold 
shower. 25. She had been as cross as two sticks. 26. Is there any 
use of talking in a loud voice? 27. The Brazilian merchant is now 
making much profit. 28. He seems unfit for civilized society. 29. 
Some bright day you will know the facts. 30. Which one looks 
better to you? 31. On both sides of the road that led to Frederickton 
were many monuments of stone and bronze. 



LESSON 111 A 

Written Composition 42 

If you have read Black Beauty, you remember that in one 
way it is a peculiar kind of story. The horse himself does the 
telling. It takes a rather skilful writer to succeed with a story 
of that sort. He must use his imagination and try to think 
of how the happenings of the w r orld must seem to an animal 
that has known masters. 

After studying the picture on page 231, w T hich shows the 
exciting finish of a race, write a story as it might be told by a 
race horse. Let it begin as the horse is led out of his stall for 
the race. Don't go on beyond the most interesting moment, 
but bring the story to a close as soon as the race is over. Try 
to suggest excitement, rivalry, and rapid motion. 



TO ENGLISH 



231 




232 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON 112 

Dictionary 5 

Do you know what a pencil is? Perhaps you are almost 
insulted by the question. You reply, "Of course I know what 
a pencil is ! How silly !" Suppose you were asked to tell exactly 
what you know. You might say, "Why, a pencil is a thing that 
you write with," and think that you had settled the question. 
But you would not have given a good definition at all, for your 
statement would apply just as well to a typewriter, a fountain 
pen, or a piece of chalk. The Chinese do their writing with a 
small brush; thus your definition might mean that, too. Do you 
see the point? When you define something, you must tell ex- 
actly what it is. Your definition must fit, and leave no room for 
confusion or misunderstandings. This fact is what makes de- 
fining a hard task which requires thinking. 

If you were asked to define a knife, most of you would say, 
"It is a thing to cut with." But so is a saw, an ax, a cleaver, a 
sword, a pair of scissors, a lawnmower, a sickle, a meat-chopper, 
a file, a razor, a can-opener, and so on. Your careless definition 
will fit one about as well as another. Notice what the diction- 
ary says about this word knife, and you see how carefully you 
must choose words if you are to work out a definition that fits 
its object. "An instrument for cutting, having a blade or blades 
relatively short, and means for grasping or using with the hand." 
Not "a thing," you observe, but "an instrument." Very seldom 
does a dictionary definition contain the word "thing." It has 
very little meaning. Don't use it when you are making defini- 
tions. 

Here are twenty definitions such as a little child might 
make. What faults can you find in them? 

1 . cup — a thing to carry water in 

2. shoe — a thing made of leather to wear on your foot 

3. book — a thing to study with 

4. ink — what printers use to print with 

5. chimney — a place made by bricklayers 



TO ENGLISH 233 

6. house — a place to live in 

7. gun — an instrument which explodes accidentally 

8. church — a house with a steeple 

9. kitchen — a place where they make cookies 

10. button — something that you press 

1 1 . tire — what Father has to stop and fix 

12. book-mark — a mark for a book 

13. medicine — stuff that tastes bad when they make you take it 

14. engine — a machine that runs on a track 

Naturally, you laugh at these babyish definitions. See how 
much better you can do. Write the best definitions you can 
for the following articles. Try to make each definition fit its 
object so tightly that no other object can creep in too. Avoid 
the word thing. 

hem, chain, pin, window, bottle, box, oar, dish, bus, pond, hammock, 
saw, ditch, hammer, hatchet, needle, brick, bayonet, stake, tub 

In the classroom the other pupils will criticize your definitions. 
The class may agree on some good ones. Now that you have 
found out how hard it is to define, you may copy from the dic- 
tionary the definitions for these words that you find there. 
Select the one that is most familiar to you, for you may find 
a number of others. Be sure that you are copying down a 
noun use of the w T ord, and not a verb use. For instance, bottle 
is sometimes used as a verb, and so are many of the others. 



LESSON 113 



Punctuation 12 
Comma Before But 
Pupils write a great many sentences like these : 

1. We teased like everything, but father only laughed. 

2. It may be good, but it doesn't taste good. 

3. They looked everywhere, but couldn't find it. 

4. It was not a bug, but a beetle. 

Always put a comma before but if it joins two statements. In 
the first sentence there is a statement about what we did, joined 



234 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

to a statement about what father did. In the second sentence 
the but joins two statements, one about being good and the other 
about not tasting good. In the third sentence but joins two 
verbs and makes a contrast — "looked, but could not find." 
In the fourth sentence but contrasts a beetle with a bug. In 
every such sentence a comma is needed before but. 

This is not a rule that "you must always put a comma before 
but.'" Sometimes but is just a preposition with an object. 

1. There is no one here but me. 

2. You won't find anything but a couple of empty barrels. 

Of the twenty sentences on Sheet 12 there are eighteen that 
need a comma before but. In your own writing you will find that 
a comma is needed before but about eighteen times out of 
twenty. As you punctuate the sentences and put in commas, 
keep thinking, "This is easy, but it may be hard to form the 
habit for my own writing." Some of the sentences need a ques- 
tion mark at the end. 



LESSON 113 A 

Dictionary 6 

Compose definitions for the following verbs. Afterward com- 
pare your definitions with those given by the dictionary. Be 
sure to look for the use as a verb. 

batter, climb, dig, slap, scrape, sew, shatter, pull, imitate, cease, 
lure, hesitate, dent, lift, walk, complain, labor, notice, whistle, recline 

The Right Forms 27 
tear — tore — have or has torn 

1. He tears a leaf from his book. 

2. Who tore this cloth? 

3. It must have been easily torn. 

4. She has torn up the letter. 

5. The picture was torn yesterday. 



TO ENGLISH 235 

6. Who could have torn it? 

7. The lion had torn the man to pieces. 

8. He has torn his best coat. 

9. Why have you torn this paper? 

10. You ought not to have torn your book. 

11. Thorns had torn her dress. 

12. They have torn down the old barn. 

13. Trees were torn up by the storm. 

14. Who has torn down this fence? 

15. The sharp claws tore his face. 

16. This old wall must be torn out. 

17. The package was torn open. 

18. He has torn the bandage off. 



LESSON 113 B 

Dictionary 7 

Make up definitions for the adjectives below. Then look 
up the words in a dictionary and copy the definitions. 

hollow, wide, square, smooth, easy, difficult, quiet, ruddy, pleasant, 
sly, pretty, cunning, gentle, willing, calm, brave, heavy, sleek, narrow, 
sour 



LESSON 114 

Spelling 49 
Review Spelling 38, page 185. 

Punctuation 13 
Comma and Period with So 
As soon as children begin to make sentences, they use "so." 
I had a cold, so mother made me stay at home. 

Many children use "so" constantly. If a teacher made no ob- 
jection, they would fill all their oral and written compositions 



236 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

with "so" sentences. But teachers do object. Some will not 
allow any "so" sentences. Some will not allow more than one 
in a theme. Some require pupils to use a period before so and 
to use a capital s. Teachers wage war against "so" because it 
is very likely to sound childish and tiresome in themes. 

A so with a comma is not wrong, for there are many such 
sentences in good books. But a so that joins another statement 
must have at least a comma before it. 

She was jabbering in French, so I couldn't understand. 
It was no use waiting any longer, so we went home. 

It is better to use "and so" or "so that," with a comma. 

1. I had a cold, and so mother made me stay at home. 

2. She was jabbering in French, so that I couldn't understand. 

3. He failed in his English, and so had to study all summer. 

4. It was wearying me, so that I had to stop for half an hour. 

Of the twenty sentences on Sheet 13 there are ten that 
need a comma before so that or and so. Put in the commas. 
Five of the sentences have two statements joined by so; sepa- 
rate each of these five into two sentences, using a period and be- 
ginning so with a capital. The other five sentences should not 
have any comma. Be sure to put a question mark after every 
question. 



LESSON 114 A 

Oral Composition 31 



Plan and practice an oral explanation of one of the processes 
on page 237, or another which you know more about. Prepare 
on a card an outline with three or more main points. When you 
give your explanation, another pupil will hold your card, and 
decide whether you have made a good outline and whether 



TO ENGLISH 



237 



you have followed it. Keep 
about speaking in public. 

How an hour-glass operates 12. 

How a Dover egg-beater 13. 

works 14. 

A home-made rat-trap 

The work of a telephone 15. 

operator 16. 

How a band-saw works 

Telling time by a sundial 17. 

How an air-brake works 18. 

The working of an electric 19. 

heater 

How a vacuum sweeper 20. 

cleans a carpet 

Several ways of finding the 21. 

north when lost in the woods 22. 

How to load shotgun shells 23. 



in mind what you have learned 



1. 



10 



11 



How to handle a canoe 
Why an electric bell rings 
The right way to pile a cord 
of wood 

Making a pair of skees 
How to inflate a football or 
a basketball 

What makes ice-cream freeze 
Cooking with steam 
How to select a good bat or 
glove 

How to fell a tree in the de- 
sired place 

The way to spray fruit trees 
How to make good waffles 
How to make a radio outfit 



LESSON 115 



Dictionary 8 

Some young people have the careless habit of using when or 
where in definitions. Suppose we should define robbery as 
where something is stolen. This definition seems to indicate 
that robbery is a place, but it is not. It is just as wrong to 
say that robbery means when something is stolen, for robbery 
is not a time, either. The definition given in a well-known 
dictionary is "the act or practice of robbing; a plundering; a 
pillaging; a taking away by violence, wrong, or oppression." 
Robbery is an act, not a when or a where. 

Let us take another example. "Ice is when water is frozen." 
This is wrong, for ice is not a time. A true definition is "water 
congealed or in a solid state," which might be more simply 
stated as "water that is frozen." Also it would be wrong for 
you to define alms as "where you give something to the poor." 
Alms is a gift, not a place. 



238 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Tell what is wrong in these definitions, and try to make 
better ones. 

1. Pity is when you feel sorry for somebody. 

2. Athletics is where they practice physical training, games, or 
exercises. 

3. A trial is where they decide a dispute between persons before a 
judge. 

4. A practical joke is where you hurt a person's feelings. 

5. A supper is when people eat at night. 

6. A journey is when a trip is taken. 

7. A law is where a rule of action or conduct is made. 

8. A groan is when someone makes a noise indicating pain. 

9. A command is when a person is ordered to do something. 
10. A hill is where the ground rises. 



LESSON 116 



Spelling 50 



Review Spelling 39, page 188. 

There are a great many adjectives that end in ful, with only 
one I: wonderful, awful, careful. If the teacher should have 
you write in class some sentences that contain "ful" adjectives, 
use only one I. 

Can you spell forty with an or? It is not so easy as you think. 

Probably you can spell trying and crying, because the ing is 
simply put on to try and cry. There are three other verbs 
that end in the same way with ying: tying, lying, dying. Some 
pupils don't even know that there is such a form as lying;* 
they cannot say that the snow is lying on the ground or that 
a package is lying on a counter. Make a sentence that con- 
tains tying and lying. Can you make a sentence that contains 
all three of these verbs? Even if it is not sensible, it will 
teach spelling. 

* Review Right Forms -'. .lie, p:i?e !4. 



TO ENGLISH 



Grammar 15 

Adverbs 

See if you can tell what the black-type words are doing in 
these sentences. 

1. The wheels are running smoothly. 

2. Now may I go down? 

3. Stand up ! 

4. Come tomorrow. 

5. Never do that again. 

6. The wheels are not running. 

Each of these words is modifying a verb. How are the wheels 
running in the first sentence? In the second sentence now shows 
the time of may go, and doivn shows the place. Up shows how 
or where. Tomorrow and never and again show when. Not is a 
very powerful word. It has the strength to deny a whole state- 
ment and make a verb dispute itself. The verb says that the 
wheels are running, and then not denies the verb. Not is often 
shortened to n't and printed solid with the verb — as in "The 
wdieels aren't running." 

A great many adverbs end in ly. Yet there are a great many 
that do not end so. Notice how many little adverbs there are 
in these sentences. 

1. Look over there, far away. 

2. He is not yet here, but is already on the way. 

3. Go right along. 

4. Move on fast. 

5. He works hard, too — often late at night. 

6. Geese are flying high now. 

7. If you turn wrong then, you will have to go out backward. 

8. There are lady-bugs here also. 

In each of the following twenty-six sentences there is one 
adverb that modifies a verb, and only one. Find each adverb 
and prepare to recite in this way: "High is an adverb. It 
modifies the verb roams." 

1. Did you swim far? 2. We walked slowly. 3. Smoothly sailed 
the ship. 4. Have you written lately? 5. Already we have had 



240 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

frost. 6. You ought not to go. 7. Keep up your courage. 8. Don't 
play in my yard. 9. It happened thus. 10. I foolishly lost my 
temper. 11. Let's keep going on. 12. The Chinaman was carefully 
polishing an abalone shell. 13. Away rode John Gilpin. 14. Down 
came the flag. 15. It seems to me you're walking very fast. 16. Did 
the wind blow these leaves in? 17. Let's go out by the side door. 
18. I still think you are mistaken. 19. Here is a shady spot. 20. The 
baby walked fearlessly toward the gobbler. 21. We shall have no 
peace now. 22. There it goes! 23. In spite of her deep grief and 
excitement she spoke calmly. 24. They are off! 25. She gave me 
her hand cordially. 26. Then, in the gloom of the foggy night, I was 
afraid. 



LESSON 117 

Oral Composition 32 
Argument 



Once a pup was lying on the floor beside a stove. On the 
zinc beneath the stove sat a teakettle full of boiling water. 
Some of the steam had condensed and stood in drops of water 
on the hot spout. The pup saw the moisture, and suddenly 
remembered that he was thirsty. Stretching out his tongue, he 
licked the spout of the kettle. Instantly he leaped back, with 
the most ridiculous look of amazement on his face, and ran out 
of the room, amid a shout of laughter from the boys who had 
noticed the incident. Never again would that dog allow any- 
thing that looked like a teakettle to be brought near him. 

Surely he must have done some reasoning about his experi- 
ence. He must have said to himself, in dog language, something 
like this : "A bright, shiny thing burned me once. Here comes 
another bright, shiny thing. It will burn me, too. Good-by !" 

Of course, there was something wrong with Bingo's reasoning. 
It was pretty good, for a dog, but we know more about heat 
than he knew, and we are aware that a teakettle is harmless 
unless it has hot water in it. Yet, like the pup, we often reach a 
wrong conclusion because we do not consider all the facts in the 



TO ENGLISH 241 

case. When we do this, we make the same kind of mistake that 
Bingo made. An educated person is not likely to form an 
opinion without considering all the necessary facts. 

A baby who was amusing himself by pulling a kitten's tail 
received a painful scratch. After that his mother kept him 
from crawling up the stairs by hanging an old fur cap from the 
banisters. What course of reasoning did the baby follow? 

What do you think of such reasoning as this? "Yesterday, 
when I was in the country, I saw five farmers plowing. Every 
one of them used a riding plow. Therefore, I know that all 
farmers use riding plows." 

The facts observed prove something. They prove that 
some farmers use riding plows. It would take a great many 
more examples than five to prove anything more than that . 

Discuss the "proofs" that follow. Do any of them really 
prove anything? Can you find any that prove what they pre- 
tend to prove? 

1. Many Presidents of the United States have begun their lives on 
farms. Leo Rogers has always lived on a farm. Therefore Leo Rogers 
iv ill be President some day. 

2. Yesterday I didn't study my lesson. The teacher called on me 
to recite. Today I studied hard. I wasn't called on. Therefore it 
pays to study hard. 

3. Abraham Lincoln never went to college. President Harding 
went to college. Therefore a man without a college education has as 
good a chance of becoming President as a man who has one. 

4 Four people have been drowned in Hubbard Lake. Every one 
of them was a good swimmer. Therefore it is safer not to learn to swim. 

5. During war time only men who are strong and well go into the 
army. Therefore healthy men are braver than men who are not healthy. 

6. My notebook has a black cover. This morning it was gone 
from my locker. Yesterday the teacher told Vincent Shaw that he 
must have a notebook. This morning he was seen carrying one with 
a black cover. Therefore Vincent Shaw has stolen my notebook. 

7. Our textbook says that no ing word by itself can be a verb. I 
have just received a letter the last sentence of which is, "Hoping to 
hear from you soon." Therefore the textbook is wrong. 

8. A man in Kentucky used tobacco all his life. He lived to be 102. 
Therefore tobacco causes long life. 



242 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 



LESSON 117 A 



Oral Composition 33 

Study these "proofs" and be ready to discuss them. Just 
what does each one prove? Does any one prove what it pre- 
tends to prove? 

1. One evening a black cat crossed my path. Before I got home 
I lost a dollar bill. Therefore black cats bring bad luck. 

2. All birds have wings. A bat has wings. Therefore a bat is a 
bird. 

3. Last spring it was cold until nearly the first of June. The spring 
before that was the same way. Therefore the climate is changing. 

4. I have read in the papers about several bankers who were dis- 
honest. Therefore my money will be safer in the mattress of my bed 
than in a bank. 

5. Hundreds of people have been killed in automobile accidents. 
Therefore the driving of automobiles should be forbidden by law. 

6. The football team of which I am a member has been beaten in 
every game it has played this season. Tomorrow we meet the best 
team on our schedule. Therefore it is no use for me to try. 

7. Last year three of our best football players failed to pass in their 
studies. Therefore football is a bad thing for a school. 

8. Every time I drink coffee at night I lie awake for hours. When 
I don't drink coffee, I sleep soundly. Therefore coffee is bad for my 
health. 

9. One winter I slept with my bedroom windows closed. I had 
colds all the time. The next winter I kept my bedroom well ventilated. 
I didn't have a cold all winter. Therefore foul air causes colds. 

10. When I spend the summer in Indiana, I always have ha} 7 fever. 
When I go to Michigan for the summer, I am not troubled at all. 
Therefore hay fever is found only in Indiana. 

11. The doctors know that all blood-poisoning is caused by certain 
germs. They know that these germs may be anywhere and may 
enter the blood where the skin is open. Therefore whenever I cut my 
finger I ought to put on something to kill germs. 

12. Many farmers think that the moon affects the crops. There- 
fore I must find out at what time of the moon to make my garden. 

13. My ancestors had no screen doors or windows, yet they grew 
up to be men and women. Therefore this talk about flies killing babies 
is all nonsense. 



TO ENGLISH 243 

LESSON 118 

Written Composition 43 
A True Ghost Story 

When I was about nine years old, our family moved into an old, 
rambling house which was known in the village as the Thompson 
house. When I first saw it, it gave me a very unpleasant feeling. It 
was surrounded by shrubs and high grass, and closely shut in by great 
cedars, through which the wind sighed dismally. If the outside was 
gloomy, the interior was even more depressing. Nobody had lived 
there since the death of old Mrs. Thompson several months before, 
and the air was close and nrusty, while in some of the rooms the paper 
hung in tatters from the mildewed walls. 

As soon as we moved in, I explored the upstairs. At the head of 
the stair was a narrow hall, with two sleeping-rooms opening upon 
the side of it. Off the end of this hall was a huge, unfinished store- 
room, full of old trunks, boxes, old clothes, and bundles of dust-covered 
and ancient magazines, and haunted by rats and mice. One of the 
bedrooms was to be mine, while my grandfather intended to occupy 
the other. The other members of the family were to sleep below. 

Boylike, I started to plunder the old magazines in the attic room. 
Of course, I found rich treasures, and during the whole of a gloomy, 
rainy afternoon, I filled my imagination with some of the most fearful, 
hair-raising ghost stories I have ever read. You can imagine that 
when night came, and I was sent upstairs to bed, I was not in a par- 
ticularly cheerful state of mind. To make matters worse, Grandfather, 
who had gone to the country, had sent word that because of the rain 
he would not return that night. It was my fate to sleep alone in that 
big, lonesome upstairs, close to the rat-inhabited storeroom. 

Mother gave me a lighted lamp, telling me to place it on a heavy 
dresser that stood in the hall. I decided to leave it burning, for, 
though I knew I could not see it from my bed, the light from the hall 
shining in at my door would make me feel a good deal more cheerful. 
Setting down the lamp and turning it up high, I cast a fearful glance 
into the dark shadows of the lumber-room, where the rattling of papers 
showed that the rats had started their nightly activities, and hustled 
into bed. 

At once I found that I was hopelessly wide awake. Those horrible 
ghost stories raced through my head, and dreadful images presented 
themselves before my mind. I kept getting more and more uneasy, 
until finally I was staring at the lighted square of the door, half-ex- 



244 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

pecting that any instant a ghastly figure from the storeroom would 
come into my view. Outside the wind wailed through the cedar 
trees, and the rain splashed against the windows and pattered on the 
rotten shingles overhead. 

Suddenly I noticed that the light in the hall seemed dimmer than 
before. Was I dreaming? No, the light certainly was growing 
fainter and fainter, exactly as if a hand was turning down the lamp, 
slowly but steadily. Horrified, I lay and stared until the light had 
almost vanished. Then in desperation I rushed out into the hall, 
feeling that anything was better than that dreadful uncertainty. 
Sure enough, the lamp was very low. Nothing was to be seen. With 
trembling fingers, I turned the flame as high as I could, glanced fur- 
tively into the threatening rubbish-room, and slipped back to bed. 

No sooner had I lain down again than the light began to go down, 
down, down, as before. Again, after standing the suspense as long as 
I could, I hurried out and turned it up again, and once more I saw 
nothing. Yet a third time the same thing happened. That was 
enough for me. I took my lamp and beat a retreat down the stairs. 
The rest of the night I spent on a couch in the living room, and though 
my sleep was rather broken, and the couch pretty hard, nothing hap- 
pened to frighten me. 

In the morning I related the horrors of the night. After I had told 
my story, Mother remarked, "Let me see that lamp." And then and 
there I learned that a lamp which has very little oil in it will gradually 
burn lower and lower until the flame flickers altogether out. 

Exercise. Let each pupil in the class try his hand at writing 
a ghost story. You may make a contest of this undertaking, 
and your teacher may arrange to have the winning story pub- 
lished in the school paper. A class committee may select 
judges for the contest. 

As this piece of work will probably be longer than the composi- 
tions you have been writing, you may write it as a continued 
story, in two chapters. Begin promptly, putting in only enough 
introduction to give a little "spooky" atmosphere to your story. 

The best plan may be for you to dash off your first copy of the 
whole story at one sitting. Then rewrite the first half of it very 
carefully, improving the language all you can, and trying to 
bring in some awe-inspiring hints of the horrors to come in 
Chapter 2. This first chapter, about four or five paragraphs, 



TO ENGLISH 245 

should be enough for one day, and if you have stopped at an 
interesting place, your classmates will be anxious to hear the 
second chapter. For the next day rewrite the second part, and 
make as prompt and effective an ending as you can. Some 
excellent, "shuddery" ghost stories ought to result. 



LESSON 119 

Spelling 51 

Review Spelling 41, page 195. 

Punctuation 14 

Comma with for 

Eighth-year pupils often use a sentence in which for joins 
two statements. 

It can't be nine o'clock, for the yard is full of boys. 

A comma is needed before for, just as it is before but or and so. 

Do you begin to get an idea? A comma is needed in any sen- 
tence that is made up of two statements joined by a word like 
bid or and so or for. 

Of course no rules say that "we must always put a comma 
before bid or so or for" The rules say that if two statements 
are joined by such words, a comma must be used. 

Sometimes for is a preposition and must not have a comma 
before it. 

Roland and I went to the well for a pail of water that mother 
needed. 

Of the twenty sentences on Sheet 14 there are fifteen that 
need a comma before for. The other five sentences need no 
comma at all. Insert the fifteen commas. Every time you 
put in a comma, explain to yourself why it is needed. Explain 
to yourself why commas are not needed in the other cases. 



246 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 



LESSON 120 



Written Composition 44 

Exercise. The scene on page 247 is in Egypt. The great 
stone sphinx may be 5000 years old; the man on the camel is 
an American army officer. Here are many possibilities for 
an entertaining theme — for example: (1) find out from the 
encyclopedia why sphinxes or pyramids were made. (2) In 
what ways is a camel a most remarkable and useful animal? 
(3) If the sphinx could think and speak, what might it say 
to a man from a new country on the other side of the world? 
You may use any similar idea that strikes your fancy. 



LESSON 120 A 



Oral Composition 34 
Proving by Observation 

Prove two or more of these statements by giving instances 
that you know about. Be sure that you have in mind exactly 
what it is that you are trying to prove. If you do not fully 
prove the point, your classmates are likely to tell you of your 
mistake. Are there any statements here that you know to be 
false? 

1. Many very poor people are happy. 

2. Work is often fun at the same time. 

3. Cutworms eat through the stalks of corn and tomato plants. 

4. Fish eat worms. 

5. Cats destroy birds. 

6. It is bad for the health to stay in the water too long. 

7. Driving on slippery pavements without chains is dangerous. 

8. Squirrels eat corn. 

9. It is a bad plan to drink during a basketball game. 

10. Warm air goes up. 

11. Some tramps will work. 



TO ENGLISH 



247 




AN AMERICAN IN EGYPT 



248 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

12. Seals are often very intelligent. 

13. Some dogs can understand certain words. 

14. Drying shoes by a hot fire ruins them. 

15. Green plant-lice make potato- vines wither. 

16. Sunflowers turn so as to look squarely at the sun all day 

17. It is possible to get rich in a small town. 

18. Measles are "catching." 

19. Sawdust keeps ice from melting. 

20. Salt makes ice melt faster. 

21. Bumblebees make honey. 

22. Asphalt becomes soft in hot weather. 

23. A street car will stop if the trolley jumps off the wire. 



The Right Forms 28 

begin — began — have or has begun 

1. Now I begin to understand. 

2. The child began to cry. 

3. The snow had begun in the gloaming. 

4. We began to be afraid. 

5. Have you begun to study? 

6. Who began to write first? 

7. I have not yet begun to fight. 

8. The thunder began to roll. 

9. He had begun to sink. 

10. Why have you begun at this end? 

11. She began to eat an orange. 

12. It had begun to get lighter. 

13. The men began to quarrel. 

14. His load began to seem heavy. 

15. The rain has begun again. 

16. W r e ought to have begun work earlier. 

17. She began to ask questions. 

18. I had just begun a new book. 

19. Who began this argument? 

20. The sun had just begun to shine. 

21. Why has he begun so late? 

22. They began at the wrong end. 



TO ENGLISH 249 

LESSON 121 

Spelling 52 
Review Spelling 42, page 200. 

Punctuation 15 
Comma with and 

Here is a short sentence that is complete. It can stand alone 
with a period after it. 

Take a little walk. 
Here is another complete sentence. 

Then you will feel better. 

If we wish to put these in a composition, we must write them as 
two separate sentences. 

Take a little walk. Then you will feel better. 

To use a comma and a small t with them would be a "sentence- 
error" — the worst fault in writing. 

But we may make them into one sentence by hitching them 
together with and. 

Take a little walk, and then you will feel better. 

Any sentence of this kind, made with but or so or for or and, 
is called "compound." The little words that join the two state- 
ments are called "conjunctions." They have power to turn 
two sentences into one. Unless you use a conjunction, you do 
not have one sentence. The little conjunction is necessary. 

Before this conjunction you must put a comma. That ought 
not to be hard to learn after all this exercise. 

Yet is not quite so easy as it seems. Read the next sentence 
and see if you can tell why there is no comma in it. 

She opened the door softly and tiptoed across the room. 

What does and connect? It simply joins the two verbs, opened 
and tiptoed. She is the subject of both verbs. There must not 
be any comma. 



250 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

The twenty sentences on Sheet 15 are an exercise in deciding 
whether to use a comma with and. If and simply joins two 
verbs, there is no need of a comma. But if and joins another 
statement — another subject and its verb — there must be a 
comma. Study these two pairs of sentences before you try to 
do the exercise. 

)1. Webb was very much excited and ripped the letter open at once. 
2. W^ebb was very much excited, and we wondered why. 

}1. She came rushing out and almost collided with Dick. 

(2. She came rushing out, and then suddenly she stood stock still. 

Half of the sentences on Sheet 15 need a comma; half of them 
should not have any comma. Decide about each and be 
prepared to give your reason. 



LESSON 121 A 



Punctuation 16 
Undivided Quotations 

A direct quotation should be surrounded by quotation marks 
and separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma. 

1. The fireman yelled frantically, "Don't move an inch!" 

2. "Please come here," she said in a coaxing voice. 

You see in number 1 that a quotation begins with a capital. 
You see in number 2 that the word after a quotation begins with 
a small letter. 

Now look at a quotation that asks a question and one that 
exclaims. 

1. "Can't I come in?" she pleaded. 

2. "How I hate to go!" he growled. 

With a question mark or an exclamation mark no comma is used. 
Punctuate each of the quotations on Sheet 16, putting in the 
capital letters, the quotation marks, the comma (if one is 
needed), and any period or question mark or exclamation mark 
that is needed. 



TO ENGLISH 251 

LESSON 121 B 

Punctuation 17 
Divided Quotations of One Sentence 
Suppose that a teacher asked a class, 
"Do you think there should be a comma in number nine?" 
You could write it this way : 

"Do you think," asked the teacher, "that there should be a comma 
in number nine?" 

There are two pairs of quotation marks and two commas. No- 
tice that the second part of the quotation begins with a small 
letter. 

Each of the first ten sentences on Sheet 17 contains one quoted 
sentence that is broken apart by such words as asked the teacher, 
said he, shouted Allie. Punctuate each sentence, putting in the 
capitals, the two pairs of quotation marks, the two commas, and 
the period or question mark at the end. 

Sentences 11-20 on Sheet 17 are a mixed lot: some have no 
direct quotation; some have an undivided quotation; some 
have a divided quotation of one sentence. 

Punctuate the twenty sentences. 



LESSON 122 



Oral Composition 35 
Proving by Authorities 

There are many things which we are unable to prove by means 
of our own observation. When we try to find out the truth 
about such matters, we take the opinions of people who are 
experts in these matters. If you wanted advice about getting 
your pony shod, you would ask a man who knew about the 
shoeing of ponies. You would not be likely to take the advice 
of a barber or a plumber on such a point. 



252 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Suppose you wished to know whether song birds save millions 
of dollars every year. As you could not possibly decide by 
what you have observed, you would be obliged to get the 
opinions of men who have studied the problem. A man who 
lives in Illinois knows a great deal about song birds; yet when 
he wanted to show that they save a vast amount of money 
every year, even he found it necessary to get the opinions of 
experts. This is the way in which he proves his point. 

The native birds of America are worth millions upon millions of 
dollars yearly in the service they give by destroying insect life and 
thereby protecting our grains and our fruit trees. 

The loss to this country through the destructive work of insects has 
been variously estimated by students of the subject to be certainly 
more than $400,000,000, and by some authorities to be as high as 
$800,000,000 a year. The codling moth and curculio apple pest cost 
us $12,000,000 a year in the reduced value of the apple crop and more 
than $8,000,000 a year in the cost of spraying the trees to keep them 
from destroying even more. The cinch bug reduces the value of 
our wheat crop about $20,000,000 a year, and the cottonboll-weevil 
cuts a good $20,000,000 a year out of the value of this country's 
cotton crop. These are only a few of the leading insect pests. 

The records of the United States Biological Survey show that the 
green leaf-louse, a very destructive insect, multiplies at the rate of 
ten sextillion to the pair in one season. The potato bug, another 
expensive pest, does not reproduce so rapidly. One pair multiplies 
from 50,000,000 to 60,000,000 in one season. Authorities state that 
if unchecked, the natural increase of the gypsy moth would in eight 
years result in the defoliation of all the trees in this country. 

Nature gave us birds as a natural combative force against the rav- 
ages of insects. Let me quote you a few figures gathered from the 
reports of the United States Government Scientists. 

"By far the most efficient aids to man in controlling the codling 
moth are the birds." — Year Book (1911) of the U. S. Department of 
Agriculture. 

It has been shown that the codling moth does more damage to 
apples and pears than all other insects combined. Thirty-six species 
of birds attack this insect. In some localities the birds destroy from 
66% to 85% of the larvae of these insects. More than fifty species 
of birds feed upon caterpillars and thirty-six species live largely upon 
destructive plant lice. 

Professor Edward Howe Forbush, State Ornithologist of Massa- 



TO ENGLISH 253 

chusetts, states that a single yellow-throated warbler will consume 
10,000 tree lice in a day. A scarlet tanager has been closely watched 
and seen to devour gypsy moths at the rate of thirty-five a minute 
for eighteen minutes at a time. He also reports seeing a pair of 
grosbeaks visit their nest 450 times in eleven hours, carrying to their 
young two or more larvae at a time. 

One of the reports of the Biological Survey records finding sixty 
grasshoppers in the crop of one night hawk and 500 mosquitos in 
another; thirty cut worms in the crop of a blackbird; seventy canker 
worms in the crop of a cedar bird. I myself at one time had the 
stomach of a female martin, which had been shot by a boy, carefully 
examined, and it contained nearly 2000 mosquitos, a. large number of 
house flies, May-rose and striped cucumber beetles, and several other 
kinds of insects. It is simply amazing, to one who has not made a 
close study of the subject, what a tremendous amount of good work 
in destroying insects is accomplished by our native birds.* 

After we have read all this evidence, we are convinced that 
the statement made at the beginning is true. 

Exercise. Give orally one of the following proofs based upon 
the opinions of people who know something about the subject 
you are discussing. 

1. Prove that a certain boy is a good football or basketball player. 
Get the opinion of several persons who are good judges of athletes, 
and who know what this boy has done. 

2. Prove, by the evidence of two or more people who know, that a 
certain physician or dentist (you need not mention his name) is very 
successful in his work. 

3. Prove by good evidence that it pays for a boy or girl to finish 
high school. 

4. Prove by the statements of authorities that the 

car is a very satisfactory one. 

5. Prove by authorities that a certain carpenter, bricklayer, stone- 
mason, or other workman does excellent and lasting work. 

6. Prove by the judgment of experts the excellence of a baseball, 
tennis racket, carpet-sweeper, sewing machine, or typewriter of a 
certain make. 

7. Prove in a similar manner that a certain merchant always treats 
his customers fairly and gives them the worth of their money. 

'This material is quoted by permission from a pamphlet by Mr. Joseph H. Dodson, President 
of the American Audubon Association. 



254 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON 122 A 

Punctuation 18 
A Period with Divided Quotations 

[This lesson and the following one are rather advanced for 
most eighth-year classes. They are intended only for schools 
that feel the need of them.] 

Look at the period between these two sentences : 
Go away. Don't bother me. 

You know that each of these is a complete sentence, for it gives 
a command and can stand alone. Is there anything very hard 
about that? 

Suppose that you wanted to say in a theme that a storekeeper 
spoke these two sentences. When you put quotation marks 
around them, they are still two sentences. 

"Go away," said the storekeeper. "Don't bother me." 

That is all there is to it. 

See whether you can do a bit of this "very hard" work. Re- 
write the three following sentences, using the two pairs of quo- 
tation marks, the comma, and the period after the said 
words — just as in the two sentences that the storekeeper spoke. 

1. that's queer said Frank I thought it was all gone 

2. hurry up shouted the guide there's no time to lose 

3. don't think the postmaster replied angrily just listen to me 

Of course the first of the two sentences of a quotation might 
be a question. 

"Where are you?" called Ethel. "I can't see you." 

Does it seem very easy? It is not so easy as you may think. 
For in the exercise that follows, some of the quotations are of 
two sentences, and some are of one. You must decide in each 
case whether there is one sentence or two. Then you are to 
copy. On page 255 is a sample of the work for you to notice 
before you begin the exercise. 



TO ENGLISH %55 

1. come here said the janitor I need help 

2. come here said Truman and hold the bar 

Did the janitor speak one sentence or two? He first gave a com- 
mand, and then made the statement that he needed help. He 
spoke two sentences. But Truman simply spoke two verbs as 
two commands, and joined them by and. There is only one 
sentence. There must be only a comma and a small letter after 
Truman. 

On Sheet 18 are twenty quotations; ten of them contain two 
sentences and should be written with a period and a capital 
after the words like said Frank. But ten of them contain only 
one sentence; these should be written with a comma and a 
small letter, like the quotations of Punctuation 17. 

Here is the clue: If you take out the "said" words, have you 
one sentence, or have you two sentences? Why is that much 
harder than the other work that you have done in separating 
groups of words into two sentences? 

Put the question mark after any question. 



LESSON 122 B 



Punctuation 19 

Commas with Participle Groups 

Pupils in the seventh and eighth years often use expressions 
like "seizing a chair," "thinking you were not at home." Since 
seizing and thinking are called "participles," a convenient name 
for the expressions is "participle groups." Sometimes commas 
are needed with them. 

This is not saying that "you must always put commas around 
participle groups." In the majority of cases no commas are 
needed. How can we tell? In this exercise we shall see some 
"omraon examples and learn to use the commas in easy sen- 
tences. 



256 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

1. If the participle group comes first in the sentence, use a 

comma. 

Coming home late one night, he saw a light in his window. 

2. If the group comes far after the word it modifies, use aj 
comma. 

He was careless as usual, having learned nothing from the drill. 

3. If the group, coming directly after the word it modifies, 
sounds like an explanation of why or w T hen or how somebody did 
something, use tw r o commas. 

1. Their right tackle, misunderstanding the signal, spoiled the play. 

2. Then Jones, stumbling along in the dark, happened to hit it. 

Those two participles mean "because he misunderstood," "while 
he w^as stumbling." 

We have been speaking about participles, which always belong 
with some noun or pronoun, and are a kind of adjective. Of 
course a noun-like word or group of w r ords that ends in ing would 
not be separated by a comma. 

Looking through every volume of the big encyclopedia is no joke. 

Looking does not modify anything. It is the subject of is. 

In fifteen of the twenty sentences on Sheet 19 there is a group 
of words that ought to be surrounded by commas; in five sen- 
tences no commas are needed. Punctuate all the sentences. 



LESSON 123 
Spelling 53 



Review Spelling 43, page 209. 

There are some very common w r ords that have an e before ly 
and ty. One is often used in signing a letter, sincerely. 
Another is surely. ''Surely he writes sincerely." Another 
pair is lonely and lovely. "It is lovely in this lonely spot." 



TO ENGLISH 257 

Nowadays "safety first" is a great motto. The safety has 
an e in it. So has entirely. "Surely it is entirely right to think 
of safety first." 

Do you remember a word that ends in ite? It is de-\-fi-\-nite — 
definite. The last i is the hard letter. The e is kept in definitely. 
"Surely you know definitely." 

Letters 21 

Exercise. Three weeks before the opening of the basketball 
season you remember that your "Amateur" basketball is badly 
ripped in one of the seams. In a letter* to the H. D. Baker 
Sporting Goods Company, 420 South Wabash iVvenue, Chicago, 
you ask advice as to getting your basketball repaired. You do 
not know whether you should send it to the factory, or how ex- 
pensive the repairs may be. Think of the situation as a real 
one. Prepare the letter and the envelope. 



LESSON 124 

Spelling 54 

Review Spelling 44, page 212. 

You have learned some queer, unusual ways of making the 
past tense of verbs — such as tried, paid, stopped. Remember 
that these are peculiar. Though they are common and impor- 
tant, there are not many of them. 

Unless you know some such definite rule, always add ed to a 
verb — thus: open, opened; offer, offered; suffer, suffered; burn, 
burned; jump, jumped. 

Most verbs that end in y should have the regular ending ed, 
without any change: stay, stayed; play, played; stray, strayed; 
delay, delayed; employ, employed; destroy, destroyed. 

Of course if a verb ends in e, you add only d; hoped, moved, 
dared, used. Keep used in mind. We often put to after it, as 
in "I used to go." 

•This letter is the first of a series which continues through Lessons 125, 127, and 128. 



258 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Can you think of an adjective that ends in et? It sounds like 
"kwiet," and is spelled q u i e t. "He has to diet and keep 
quiet." 

Did you ever see thl together in a word? Very few English 
words have the combination. It is hard to pronounce. But 
you could say pathless without any trouble. The only common 
"ath" word is athlete, athletics. Learn this thl word. 

With the thl word put a couple of cl words, article and par- 
ticle. Learn : "The article on athletics hadn't a particle of sense." 

There should always be two d's in address. Think of ad-\- 
dress. 

Grammar 16 

Where, when, how, and why, used in asking questions, are 
adverbs. 

1. How can I tell? 

2. Why did you go? 

3. Where did he find it? 

4. When is it to be decided? 

Also the answers to questions, yes and no, are called adverbs. 
Another common word that is called an adverb is there used to 
begin a sentence. 

There is some sense in that. 

Find one adverb in each of the following sentences : 

1. Why do you ask me? 2. Yes, I have some money. 3. Let's 
go up. 4. The typewriters were clicking noisily. 5. How do you do? 
6. When did you arrive? 7. Please run ahead. 8. He played well. 
9. Where are you going? 10. Does the new stove cook well? 
11. Come on. 12. Can you see well with your left eye? 13. She is 
distantly related to me. 14. Does he recite well? 15. He talks well 
in class about the adverb well. 16. Does he really know about well? 
17. He probably does. 18. Do you think so? 19. What w T ord could 
he possibly use for well? 20. Perhaps he says "good." 21. Do you 
mean that he sometimes uses good to modify a verb? 22. He certainly 
does. 23. That is surely astonishing. 24. Indeed it is. 



TO ENGLISH 259 

Adverbs and Adjectives 

If we want to describe an object or a person, we may use a 
predicate adjective. 

1. The pole is unsteady. 

2. She is beautiful. 

3. The hills are barren. 

4. The cocoa was good. 

5. The air Mas heavenly. 

6. The day was cold. 

But if we want to tell how something was done, we modify 
the verb with an adverb. 

1. The work was done badly. 

2. She sings well. 

3. He danced wretchedly. 

4. He danced well. 

5. He read hurriedly. 

Many pupils do not know the difference between adjectives 
and adverbs. They say that they "played good" or "did good,'* 
when they mean that they "played well" or "did well." 

Each of the following sentences is correct. In each one you 
will find after the verb either an adverb or a predicate adjective. 
Decide about each case, preparing to recite in one of these ways : 

1. Good is a predicate adjective. It modifies the subject 
toboggan. 

2. Well is an adverb. It modifies the verb steered. 

1. The sheep acted queerly. 2. The priest walked sedately. 
3. Doesn't the taffy taste sweet? 4. He always recites well. 5. The 
poor invalid seemed lonely. 6. That word lonely may be hard. 7. I 
studied hard on that number five. 8. The play was silly. 9. The 
housekeeper was slovenly. 10. The wish on your Christmas card 
was lovely. 11. The ending "ly" is seen frequently on adjectives. 
12. How can you tell surely? 13. You can tell only by seeing the 
meaning of the word. 14. The subject is described always by an 
adjective. 15. A word modifying a verb is never anything but an 
adverb. 



260 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

The Right Forms 29 

he, she, I — him, her, me 

1. He will go. 

2. She will go. 

3. He and she will go together. 

4. I am tired. 

5. He is tired. 

6. Both he and I are tired. 

7. Give it to me. 

8. Give it to her. 

9. Give it to her and me. 

10. She and I will do the work. 

11. This work is for her and me. 

12. He and I will help you. 

13. I need help from you and him. 

14. Why didn't you ask him or me? 

15. This is he. 

16. Tell your story to her and me. 

17. Perhaps she and I can catch the car. 

18. This picture belongs to you and me. 

19. You and I can sell it. 

20. She and he saw the fire. 

21. She and he called the dog. 

22. The dog ran up to her and him. 

23. Why didn't he and I get some candy? 

24. Neither he nor I can go. 

25. It was she who made the discovery. 

26. Does the cabin belong to you and him? 

27. Bad luck seems to follow you and me. 

28. Just between you and me, I don't believe it 

29. That is just like her. 

30. Somehow he and she can never agree. 



TO ENGLISH 261 

LESSON 125 

Spelling 55 

Review Spelling 45, page 216. 

The possessive of a plural noun is formed in a very simple 
way. You can do it with one little stroke of a pencil. 

But first you must have the plural. That is the hard part- 
getting the plural. It doesn't sound hard, does it? But the 
fact is that we rushing Americans are apt to try to do two things 
at once. If you want to learn to form possessive plurals, you 
must do one thing at a time. 

So first get the plural: boy, boys; swallow, swallows; lady, 
ladies; Thomas, Thomases; Charles, Charleses; Jones, Joneses. 
Perhaps you never made such plurals of proper names. Do they 
look strange to you? Would your hand balk if it was told to 
form the plural of Jones? Don't let it balk. Make it add the 
es, just as it would for thrushes or peaches or buses. 

When you have slowly and steadily and fearlessly formed the 
plural, stop. Pause a second. Look the plural over and see if 
it is right. 

Then — not till then — are you ready to form the possessive. 
You do this by simply putting an apostrophe after the s; boys', 
ladies', thrushes 9 , Thomases', horses', Joneses'. 

Always think of the three steps: (1) get the plural; (2) stop 
and look the plural over; (3) put an apostrophe after the s. 

There are a few nouns that do not have an s in the plural — 
like men, women, children. In any such case, form the plural 
possessive just as you would a singular: men's, women's, chil- 
dren's. 

The word straight has eight letters in it — s traight. 

You know how to spell four and pour. Put course with these : 
"Of course I can pour cut four pints." 

Look hard at cor-\-ner, corner. "Little Jack Horner sat in a 
corner." 



262 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Letters 22 

You receive this letter from the Baker Company in reply to 
the one you wrote in Lesson 123. Notice carefully its form and 
what the writer says. 

THE H. D. BAKER SPORTING GOODS COMPANY 
420 South Wabash Avenue 
Chicago, Illinois 

November 15, 1921 

Mr. Charles F. Wallace 
Dixon, Illinois 
Dear Sir: 

We note that you have one of our 
"Amateur" basketballs which has ripped. If 
this ball is the Model 1920 "Amateur," you 
cannot have used it a year, as this model was 
not put on the market until December 15 of 
last year. You may be aware that we guarantee 
this basketball against ripping during the 
first year of ordinary use. Of course, if you 
have the earlier model "Amateur," it will be 
necessary for us to make a reasonable charge 
for repairs of this character. 

Inclosed you will find a label to be 
used in shipping the basketball to our 
address. We suggest that you ship by parcels 
post. You may be assured that we shall 
endeavor to serve you as promptly as possible 
after the arrival of your shipment. 



Yours very truly, 
The H. D. Baker Sporting Goods Co 



fl^jfervO^ 



Service Manager 



HAW-BLP 



TO ENGLISH 263 

Your basketball is of the older model. Accordingly, you 
realize that you will be obliged to pay for having it repaired. 
You send it to the firm by parcels post, with the bladder inside it. 
Write a letter in which you inform the company of your action, 
telling them to give you their prices on making the necessary 
repairs, and supplying a new bladder if they find it impossible 
to make the old one fit for service. Use your own name and 
address in place of that used in the letter above. 



LESSON 126 

Spelling 56 

Review Spelling 46, page 220, and Spelling 47, page 221. 

Grammar 17 
Adverbs and Prepositions 

Pupils often confuse prepositions with adverbs. You will 
never have trouble if you remember one thing : With a preposi- 
tion there is always some noun or pronoun that is its object. 
Here are three prepositions. 

1. The bird flew over me. 

2. We came by the path. 

3. They crawled under the bars. 

Here are the same words without any objects. They are 
adverbs. 

1. Sometimes a crow flies over slowly. 

2. We dropped in as we were passing by. 

3. Which wrestler is under now? 

In each of the following sentences there is one adverb and one 
preposition. Find which is which and explain in these ways: 

1. On is an adverb because it modifies the verb had walked. 

2. On is a preposition because it has the object deck. 

1. Rob dived headlong into the water. 2. In a minute I will look 
in. 3. I'll come for that one presently. 4. The puppy ran in be- 



264 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

tween my legs. 5. He held the ring up to the light. 6. As I turned 
around, he thrust it up his sleeve. 7. He tied a rope around the barrel 
and threw it off. 8. He must have jumped off a springboard before. 
9. Before another hour the peddler will move along. 10. You will 
seldom find one along this shore. 

In each of the following sentences there are three adverbs 
that modify a verb. Find each one. Be on your guard against 
prepositions. 

1. Why is he rowing back to the dock so fast? 2. Now a fog is 
slowly settling down over the ocean. 3. Here in America the sun is 
still up in the sky. 4. The man who walks too far into these woods 
will stay out late. 5. Y r es, he has already gone away from our house. 
6. Then there were not so many people in Delaware. 7. Why did 
the actor come out from his dressing-room so quickly? 8. Have you 
been over here lately? 9. Where have they gone wrong now? 10. 
How can you swim high in the water unless you work hard? 



LESSON 127 



Spelling 57 



Review Spelling 48, page 22o. 

There are a few very curious words that contain ei. That 
combination ought to look very strange to you. It is outlandish 
and unreasonable. But here it is in our language, and we must 
learn it for a few words — only a few. The first pair is either and 
neither. They are queer words. 

Another pair is freight and weight. They have the sound of 
long a. 

After the letter c we always have ei: conceit, deceive, deceit, 
receive. 

Seize is a monstrosity. It ought to be spelled some other 
way. But it is spelled ei. 

It will be a good plan to think of all these freakish ei words as 
"weird," for weird also has that ei in it. 



TO ENGLISH 265 

Letters 23 
The Baker Company write you the following letter, dated 
November 16. 

We have received your basketball 
and your letter of November 12. Upon examina- 
tion we find that we can repair the seam for 
you at a cost of fifty cents. As to the blad- 
der we must tell you that in our best judgment 
the rubber is so lifeless that it will be lit- 
tle use to patch it. You will undoubtedly be 
better satisfied if you permit us to supply a 
new one. The price of the best grade of blad- 
der, which is the only grade we recommend as 
really satisfactory, is ninety cents. 

If the course of action we recom- 
mend is satisfactory to you, kindly advise us 
to that effect, inclosing your check for 
$1.60, which includes twenty cents for post- 
age. We shall then give the matter our 
immediate attention, making the return ship- 
ment at the earliest possible date. 

Exercise. Advise the firm that you wish them to make the 
necessary repairs and to supply a new bladder. Mention the 
date of their most recent letter. Tell them that you are very 
anxious to have the basketball again within two weeks from 
the date of your letter. Prepare the letter and the envelope. 
Fill out a check for the necessary amount, and inclose it. 



LESSON 127 A 



Grammar 18 
Adverbs of Degree 
Adverbs modify adjectives, to show how much. 

1. The day was very cold. 

2. She is much happier. 

3. Harley was not so glad. 

4. The color is all right. 

5. Your work is all wrong. 



266 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

The day was not simply cold, but very cold. She is not simply 
happier, but much happier. Harley was not so glad as some- 
body else. The color is not simply right, but all right. Your 
work is not only wrong, but all wrong. 

Adverbs modify other adverbs in the same way. 

1. They attacked more fiercely. 

2. A stoker works too hard. 

3. Condors fly extremely high. 

4. The watch is running all right. 

5. I can't run fast enough. 

Now learn the full definition of an adverb: An adverb is a 
word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. 

In each of the next twenty sentences there are two, and only 
two, adverbs. Find each one and say what it modifies. 

1. He is hardly strong enough. 2. You came too soon. 3. Shall 
I come somewhat later? 4. They are almost here. 5. He has not 
quite recovered. 6. I was all tired out. 7. I am now entirely sure 
about the facts. 8. The clothes are scarcely dry yet. 9. Somehow 
I fell off. 10. Next came a truly wonderful pudding. 11. Once 
upon a time there was a king named Log. 12. He ruled well and 
faithfully. 13. But the people were very little pleased with their 
king. 14. I feel so very sleepy. 15. My elbow is all right now. 
16. He talks too loudly. 17. I, too, fell down. 18. Certainly too is 
always an adverb. 19. Some pupils never fail to put both o's in. 
20. Notice well that the word all is frequently an adverb. 

How many adverbs can you find in this sentence? 

These pictures, which are hung on the north wall of the gallery 
under a skylight, near the door that leads out into the main corridor, 
are beautiful in coloring and seem worthy of more attention. 

On has an object; so has of, and under, and near, and into, and 
in, and of. These are all prepositions. Beautiful is a predi- 
cate adjective after are; worthy is a predicate adjective after 
seem. There is only one adverb, out; it modifies the verb 
leads. Even a very long sentence may not have any adverbs. 
How many adverbs are there in the sentence at the top of 
page 267? 



TO ENGLISH 267 

He is probably not very far off. 

Probably modifies is; not modifies is; off modifies is (showing 
place or distance). Far modifies off, and very modifies far. 
So in a sentence of seven words there may be five adverbs. 

Find every adverb in the following sentences and tell what 
it modifies. In some sentences there are no adverbs. In 
some there are as many as five or six. 

1. We had scarcely got down. 2. Is he careful enough with the 
children? 3. They have not yet returned. 4. Possibly we ought to 
go after her. 5. I am not so sure about that. 6. He plays checkers 
too well for me. 7. Twice I told him that we must go faster. 8. At 
the end of the long vacation in September the students went at their 
work without much interest. 9. Soon afterwards the robin came back. 
10. Then the engine went forward slowly for several miles. 11. Snow 
is seldom seen so far down in the valley. 12. Where do you live now? 
13. The wind was in our teeth from half an hour after that, or we 
should have made port in 99 days. 14. How are you, down there 
below us? 15. Three sailors went aloft, and two ran below. 
16. Nowadays we hardly ever see a real blizzard. 17. Sometimes there 
is too much noise upstairs. 18. I certainly think he reads worse now. 
19. When can the trolley go ahead? 20. Why does a girl almost 
always get off backwards? 21. Some men think they never can 
work too hard. 22. In the Canadian Rockies is little Lake Louise, 
which lies amid the grim, black mountains like a blue opal in a heap 
of boulders. 23. I wish we had some store near us at which we could 
buy the dishes and clothes we need. 24. They rise early and stay up 
late. 25. Often they come here for bread-crumbs. 26. Are you 
quite sure of that? 27. You must surely get out into the open air 
for two hours a day. 28. I firmly believe that he is a truly honest 
man. 29. Perhaps she is very much worried by being left up there 
all alone. 



LESSON 128 

Spelling 58 



Review Spelling 52, page 249; 53, page 256. 

Almost all pupils can spell the first syllable — m i n — of 
minute. The second syllable sometimes gives trouble. It has 
cnlv three letters — u t e. 



268 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Learn two words that contain a single r: around and arouse. 
Put your attention on the r. There is only one r. Make a 
sentence that contains the two words. 

Learn four words that contain aim again, against, certain, 
captain. "Again the captain advanced against almost certain 
death." 

A great many words are formed by putting dis in front of 
another word. If you put dis before able or advantage or agree. 
you have — with just one s — disable, disadvantage, disagree. 
If you add able to disagree what have you? You have dis- 
agreeable. There is one s, and there are three e's. 

You know the verb appear. You must also know appointed. 
See if you can put dis in front of each. Be careful. These 
words have fooled older and wiser people than you. Now try 
on a piece of paper. Think of 

dis + appear dis + appointed 

In each case there is only one s; there are two p's. 

Letters 24 

You receive the following letter from the Baker Company, 
dated November 23. 

We have received your letter of 
November 17, stating that you wish us to re- 
pair your "Amateur" basketball and to furnish 
a new bladder. The ball has been sent to 
our repair department, and prompt attention 
will be given to the work. It is scarcely 
possible for us to get your shipment ready at 
an earlier date than December 7, by reason 
of the large amount of repair work that 
is just now coming in. However, you may be 
assured that we shall do our best to serve 
you as promptly as possible under present 
conditions. 

Exercise. Write an answer, urging that your work be has- 
tened as much as possible, and asking that a catalog of 
athletic goods be sent you. 



TO ENGLISH 269 

LESSON 129 

Grammar 19 
Phrases as Adjective and Adverb 

A preposition always has some noun or pronoun for an ob- 
ject. The combination of the preposition and its object is 
called a "phrase." Every phrase is attached to some one 
word. It modifies this word, just as an adjective or an adverb 
does. If that word is a noun or pronoun, the phrase is an 
adjective phrase. 

1. We went to our home in the mountains. 

2. He had muscles of iron. 

3. He was a man without a country. 

"In the mountains" modifies home; "of iron" modifies muscles; 
"without a country" modifies man. 

If a phrase modifies any word except a noun or pronoun, it 
is an adverb phrase. 

4. Our home is in the mountains. 

5. He will be here in a minute. 

6. She went for thirty-nine days without food. 

"In the mountains" modifies is, telling where. "In a minute" 
modifies will be, telling when. "For thirty-nine days" modifies 
went, telling how long. "Without food" modifies went, telling 
in what way. 

There is one easy way to tell what word a phrase modifies. 
Put "What" in front of the phrase and find the most natural 
answer. "What in the mountains?" "What without a 
country?" "W T hat in a minute?" 

Here is another big help in telling what phrases modify: 
Suspect the verb. Any phrase that tells where or when or how 
is almost sure to modify the verb. For example, it might 
seem the right answer in number 5 to say "Here in a minute." 
But think about the verb. When will he be? He will be in a 
minute. The phrase modifies will be. 



270 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Find each prepositional phrase in the following sentences 
and prepare to recite in this way: "The preposition is between. 
Its objects are June and July. The phrase modifies the verb 
arrived. It is an adverb phrase." 

1. With a sigh he turned into the path that led to his cabin. 2. On 
her dressing table were all sorts of silver furnishings. 3. In the puddle 
were a lot of tadpoles that were swimming around a bunch of weeds. 
4. Into the trolley at that moment came a small child. 5. Until 
morning we wandered all about the town. 6. Uncle has something 
for us in his pocket. 7. We have a corkscrew with other tools at- 
tached to it. 8. In Bob's book there is a picture of a man flying 
through the air from the back of a bucking bronco. 9. Underneath 
the sidewalk, between two stones, was a nest of spiders. 10. If you 
walk among the piles of grain and beans, you realize what a lot of 
wealth is stored under this roof. 

Study in the same way the phrases on pages 273, 274.* 



LESSON 130 



Written Composition 45 
Argument 

It very often happens that we desire to make other people 
think as we think. Unless you are able to present your argu- 
ments well, you will not succeed in bringing others to your 
opinion. Choose one of the following exercises. 

Exercise 1. Suppose that your uncle, who has promised 
to give you a new bicycle some time, thinks that your old one 
is still good enough. W'rite a letter in which you try to con- 
vince him that a new bicycle would be a good investment. 
Present your best arguments in the effort to prove your case. 

Exercise 2. You have a sled which you wish to sell. Your 
friend likes the sled, but is undecided whether to buy it or a 
pair of skates. Write a letter in which you attempt to convince 
him that he should have the sled rather than the skates. 

•Additional work of this kind may be done with the sentences on pages 276, 277, and 279, 
or, indeed, with most of the grammar exercises in the book. 



TO ENGLISH 271 

Exercise 3. A merchant can give work to a boy or girl 
during the Christmas vacation. You want the place. The 
man is in doubt, for he fears that you are not quite old enough. 
In a letter try to convince him that you can do the work in a 
way that will please him. Be sure to observe the right forms 
of the business letter. 



LESSON 130 A 

Oral Composition 36 



Suppose that the class intends to camp for a week at a 
certain lake or river. Half the pupils are in favor of living 
in tents, while the others think that it would be best to occupy 
two cottages that stand near the shore. Let each party elect 
one or more persons to argue the case. Judges can decide on 
the argument, or a decision can be reached by vote, after the 
speakers finish. 



LESSON 131 



Grammar 20 
Objects of Verbs 

In the following sentences the nouns and pronouns after the 
verbs are called "objects of the verb." 

1. I bought a box. 

2. She carried a parasol. 

3. Do you admire him? 

4. We must not leave them. 

5. They wore tall silk hats. 

6. He heard a loud report. 

We say that box is the object of bought, that him is the object 
of admire, etc. 

That word "object" has a strange fascination for many 
pupils. It has a mysterious power over them. Some young 



272 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

people, when once they have heard about "objects," are always 
fond of them. Whenever they see any subject or predicate 
nominative or predicate adjective or adverb after a verb, the 
word "object" jumps to their lips, and they say it without 
thinking what they are about. 

So be warned of this danger. Always hesitate before you 
say that a word is an object. Think twice. Very likely the 
word is a predicate nominative or a subject. 

The foolish way of saying "object" seems in some schools 
as bad as a regular epidemic of mumps or tonsillitis. It has 
been called "objectivitis." It is very contagious and very 
hard to cure. Be sure that you don't catch the germ. You 
will never have trouble if you keep thinking about predicate 
nominatives and subjects. It is an even chance that a word 
after a verb is not an object at all. 

How can we find out whether a word is an object or not? 
See whether the subject has done some action to something, 
without a preposition. The object is not the same thing as 
the subject and does not explain the subject. It receives some 
action from the subject, without any preposition.. 

Look hard at the words after the verbs in these five sentences, 
and see why they are not objects. 

1. Mother thought of me. 

2. The parrot was a funny bird. 

3. The grass was growing taller. 

4. Boys will become men. 

5. The breaking waves dashed high. 

Mother did not "think me," but "of me." The parrot did not 
perform some action upon another bird; bird is a predicate 
nominative. The grass was not performing an action upon 
anything; it was simply becoming taller; taller is not an object. 
The boys will not do any "becoming" to some other persons; 
they themselves will be the men; men is a predicate nominative, 
not an object. The waves did not dash anything called a 
"high"; they dashed in a certain way — highly; high is not an 



TO ENGLISH 273 

object. If we should say, "The waves dash spray over us," 
then spray would be an object. 

In the twenty sentences below there are ten objects. De- 
cide about each word that follows a verb and explain what it is. 

1. I saw him last night. 2. During the early part of his life he had 
been a wealthy man. 3. The photograph was a good likeness. 
4. This point of land is called "Juniper Point." 5. By some very 
clever whistling he called the squirrel to him. 6. Isn't Marjorie grow- 
ing fast now? 7. Carnegie became the wealthiest man in America. 
8. That yellow hat doesn't become her very well. 9. I will surely pay 
the money before the end of the week. 10. We are using a lot of 
sugar today. 11. By standing on the seat I could just reach the hat- 
rack. 12. That stuff hanging from all the trees is called Spanish moss. 
13. Spain has always been a monarchy. 14. A torrent of water is 
flowing over the dam. 15. The oilcloth feels sticky. 16. The young 
robin could not swallow the big worm. 17. Don't take the top off yet. 
18. We are very proud of our new rug. 19. Some day Japan may 
have the largest city in the world. 20. The mason spread a thin 
layer of plaster over the three stones.* 



LESSON 131 A 



Grammar 21 
Indirect Objectf 
Look at the word me in the following sentence: 
He handed me his ticket. 

What did he give? He gave his ticket; ticket is the object. 
To whom did he give it? He gave it to me. If any noun or 
pronoun is thus used after a verb to show to whom the action 
was done, it is called the "indirect object." Sometimes an 
indirect object means "for whom." 

'Abundant material for additional work of this kind is provided in Part I — for example, the 
sentences on pages 26, 27, and 35. 

fThis brief lesson and the following one should be combined with some needed review of 
spelling, grammar, or "Right Forms." Teachers who wish to take up other constructions of 
nouns will find appositives explained on page 200. The remaining constructions are given in the 
Appendix, pages 311-314. 



274 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Uncle Ben secured her a seat. 

He did not "secure her," for that is nonsense; he secured a 
seat for her. 

There is no preposition in these sentences. The pronouns 
are not the objects of "understood" prepositions, but are in- 
direct objects of the verbs. 

Here are further examples of indirect objects: 

1. We gave the car a thorough cleaning. 

2. Sarah showed us her pictures. 

3. The letter brought him good news. 

4. You must pay the postman ten cents. 

5. Please get me a, glass of water. 

To what did we give the cleaning? To wdiom did Sarah show? 
To whom did the letter bring? For w T hom are you to get a 
glass of water? The answers to these questions give the 
indirect objects. 

In the fourth sentence it would make sense to say that we 
"paid the postman"; but to whom did we pay the ten cents? 
We paid it to the postman. Postman is the indirect object. 

In the following sentences find the indirect objects by asking 
"to or for whom?" "to or for wdiat?" In two of the sentences 
there are no indirect objects. 

1. Please do me this favor. 2. I will make you a kite. 3. The 
janitor never allows us an extra minute. 4. I will not lend them a 
cent. 5. It seems to me that you owe Miss Blakely an apology. 
6. The conductor explained to us the difference between the white 
and the blue strips. 7. Please pass us the butter. 8. How can I 
sell you the cloth for any less? 9. Mr. Sharpe sang for the children 
an old plantation melody. 10. I tried to teach Leila the way to swing 
a bat. 11. Bring me the long pole that you saw in the basement. 
12. Will you show me the proper way to fasten these pieces of wood 
together? 13. The woman had not given us any of the cake. 14. 
Can't you show Will an easier way to get the cherries that are on that 
high branch? 15. Mrs. Murray finally told Leona the whole story. 

16. Tell me why they didn't leave the waiters even a dish of ice-cream. 

17. The guide suddenly handed Mr. Ferguson the paddle. 18. Tell 
Martha to fetch Mother the big crock of milk. 



TO ENGLISH 275 

LESSON 131 B* 

Grammar 22 
Adjective Clauses 
You have learned how a noun may be modified by a phrase: 
The tree beside the front gate is dying. 

We could modify tree in a different way : 

The tree which grows beside the front gate is dying. 

The modifier of tree in the second sentence contains a verb, 
grows; the subject of grows is the pronoun which. So here is 
something like a little sentence tucked inside the real sentence. 
The real sentence is "The tree is dying." Inside this, to modify 
tree, we put the group of words which grows beside the gate. 

Any such modifying group, which contains a subject and a 
verb, is called a "clause." f 1. A clause is not a sentence; it 
cannot stand alone as a complete statement. (See pages 
89, 95 of Part I.) 

If a clause modifies a noun or pronoun, it is an adjective 
clause. 

1. The car that he rented was worth $6000. 

2. A fellow who talks like that must know something. 

3. The Commercial House, which is nearer the Temple, 
may be better. 

4. The book that I am reading is interesting. 

In each sentence on page 276 there is one adjective clause 
made with that or who or which. Find each clause and say 
what noun or pronoun it modifies. 

"This brief lpsson should be combined with some needed review. 

Note for Teachers: Any work with clauses in the eighth year should be considered merely 
preliminary; it must be simple. In many eighth-year classes it is not advisable to do even such 
preliminary work. Unless a class is rather forward, thoroughly grounded in the elements, the 
year's work had better be rounded out with a review of the syntax of common words. 

fThe full and proper name is "subordinate clause"; the main part of the sentence is called 
the "main clause" or "principal clause." But beginners may find that this distinction confuses 
instead of helping. For the sake of simplicity and ease this book uses "clause" to mean "sub- 
ordinate clause." 



276 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

1. The troops that came from Georgia were well drilled. 2. A 
Frenchman who did not know much English was trying to tell a 
funny story. 3. The way in which he talked without saying anything 
was simply marvelous. 4. Here are some that I am in love with. 
5. This is a game for a man who has perfectly steady nerves. 6. Don- 
ald had a club of Irish bog-oak, which he brought in to show us. 
7. The Hatfields overpowered the officers who were guarding the 
McCoys. 8. Let's have a few that we can stand on. 9. .There are 
several others^that the organist can work with his feet./ 10. Chin 
Foo was a Hong Kong boy that we hired for three weeks. 1 1 . Several 
of the students who entered the contest won honors. 



LESSON 131 C 

Grammar 23 

Adverb Clauses 

Most* adverb clauses modify verbs. 

1. I will stay if you wish. 

2. You will be cold unless you bundle up. 

3. Take this medicine whenever the attacks come on. 

4. You must stay wherever you are placed. 

5. He hesitated, as he did not wish to disobey. 

In the first sentence will stay is modified by the if clause; in 
the second will be is modified by the unless clause; in the third 
the clause tells when you must take; in the fourth the clause 
tells where you must stay; in the fifth the as clause gives the 
reason for hesitating. 

Adverb clauses almost always begin with conjunctions like 
if, unless, when, as. Some conjunctions are made of two 
words. 

1. The bird acted as if it had been wounded. 

2. Open the window, so that we can have some fresh air. 

*Certain clauses of comparison modify adjectives and adverbs: It is easitr than I thought. 
It is not so high as I feared. This is as far as I dare to go. 



TO ENGLISH 277 

An adverb clause often comes first in the sentence. 

1. If you wish, I will stay. 

2. Unless you bundle up, you will be cold. 

3. Whenever the attacks come on, take this medicine. 

4. Wherever you go, Rover follows. 

5. Whatever you wish, I will try to do. 

These clauses modify the verbs that come after them. Notice 
that they are followed by commas. 

Each of the following twenty-four sentences contains one 
adverb clause modifying a verb. Find each clause and say 
what verb it modifies. If an adverb clause comes first in a 
sentence, look ahead for the verb that it modifies. 

1. When you are through with the paper, give it to me. 2. We 
found some mushrooms where nobody else had thought of looking. 
3. While you sleep calmly in your berth, the engineer is straining every 
nerve in his body. 4. If you don't like the soup, why do you eat it? 

5. As I turned on the light, I noticed a mouse scurry into a corner. 

6. Twenty -two million copies of In His Steps have been sold since 
the book was first published. 7. If you don't know his address, look 
in the directory. 8. Whenever she stops to look at the baby, she 
misses some of the notes. 9. You can see bits of paper wherever you 
look. 10. Unless I am very much mistaken, Malcolm has not been 
practicing faithfully. 11. Before I had time to rush to the door, the 
big drops were splashing in. 12. Though she looks perfectly fresh 
every day at five o'clock, she is really tired. 13. They don't come to 
America because they want to make America rich. 14. Mr. and 
Mrs. Vernon looked as if they were posing for their pictures. 15. We 
need a bigger range in the kitchen, so that we can cook all the things 
at once. 16. If I live to be a thousand years old, I shall never forget 
the expression on his face. 17. After Mr. Harte had passed coffee 
and salad and sandwiches for twenty minutes, he began to think 
about his own hunger. 18. The geyser quietly simmers and bubbles 
in that way till some more pressure has developed down below. 
19. You must try to act as though you thought his stories very 
funny. 20. Until Mrs. Beach heard this health lecture, she had never 
known anything about tuberculosis in milk. 21. After he had handed 
in his examination paper, he hurried home. 22. He went after he had 
been urged. 23. W T hen she was seated, Laurie sat down. 24. If they 
don't come soon, we shall start. 



278 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON 131 D 

Grammar 24 
Noun Clauses 
A clause may be used as a noun. 

1. Where I could turn next was a puzzle. 

2. The fact is that he may be joking. 

Who or what was a puzzle? "Where I could turn next" is the 
subject of was. The whole group of words is like one noun or 
pronoun, as if w r e should say, "The next turn was a puzzle." 
In the second sentence the whole clause, "That he may be 
joking," is a predicate nominative after is. 

Study each noun clause in the next eight sentences. The 
first two clauses are subjects of the verbs; the third and fourth 
are predicate nominatives; the other four are objects. 

1. What he says may be true. 2. That he has dirty fingernails is 
a bad sign. 3. The puzzle is how he got in. 4. The question was 
whether I could afford it. 5. I must find out which is best. 6. Ask 
her what she wants. 7. Tell me if it is true. 8. Do you know why 
we were late? 

The w^ords where, that, whether, if, and why, which begin a 
clause or join it to a verb, are called "conjunctions" — that is, 
"joining words." Some noun clauses are formed with the 
relative pronouns what, who, and which. Some noun clauses 
do not have any conjunction or pronoun at the beginning; 
clauses of this sort may be very short : 

1. He promised he would. 

2. We thought you were. 

3. Do you think they steal? 

A noun clause is usually* a subject or a predicate nominative 
or an object of a verb. In each of the following twenty sen- 
tences there is one noun clause. Find it and say how it is used. 

*Sometimes it is the object of a preposition: "I am wondering about what I ran say." Some- 
times it is in apposition: "The fear that he might miss the train." 



TO ENGLISH 279 

1. How he does it is a mystery. 2. I wonder how he likes to beat 
carpets. 3. The question is whether they will come in the ram. 4. I 
think they will. 5. Show me what you got in the mail. 6. What 
I don't like about him is his conceit. 7. The fact is that I can't 
afford it. 8. He showed us where the car went over the bank. 
9. Don't you know how it works? 10. You never can tell where she is 
looking. 11. Uncle said he would try to buy one at the counter in 
some restaurant. 12. My idea is that there won't be enough cream 
to go around. 13. Do you suppose we have been overheard? 
14. One common superstition is that you must never begin a journey 
on Friday. 15. Do you know which one is Mrs. Curtis? 16. Ask him 
if he has locked the door. 17. Where MacGregor sits is the head of 
the table. 18. That is just what I am afraid of. 19. I fear you have 
eaten too much dessert. 20. Whatever she does is alwavs done well. 



LESSON 132 



Oral Composition 37 
A Debate 

Suppose we hold a class debate on this subject: Resolved, 
that squirrels should be protected by law in our town. Now there 
are two sides to this question. A question that has only one 
side is not a good question for a debate. No one of you would 
try to debate the question: Resolved, that the sale of cigarettes 
to persons under sixteen should be forbidden by law. That ques- 
tion has already been settled by the good sense of our people 
and our lawmakers. No American would care to debate the 
question: Resolved, that America is a better place to live than the 
Sahara desert. There is not a particle of doubt about the matter. 

But the question of the protection of squirrels has two sides, 
for even naturalists have different opinions about it. If you 
are in doubt on this point, read the selections that follow, and 
think about them. Are they the statements of persons who 
should know what they are talking about? If they are, then 
we must call them "good evidence." 



280 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Mr. Dallas Lore Sharp, the naturalist, says, speaking of the 
red squirrel or chickaree: 

Oh, he is the smallest whirlwind, the tiniest tempest, the biggest 
little somebody in all the knot-holes of the woods. He spills over 
with loud talk and conceit. But I like him, for all of that. And he 
likes me. He is interested in me every time he sees me. A gossiping 
gadabout, a busybody, a tiresome little scold, a robber of birds' nests 
(so I am told); a fighter, a nuisance (when he makes a nest in my 
cellar, as he did last whiter), a thief, a — what more shall I say? Just 
this: that, in spite of all his faults, I like chickaree, and I don't want 
him put in jail or hanged — not unless he really does eat young birds 
and suck eggs. 

They say he does. Did you ever see him? Now I have seen old 
birds flying at him as if afraid he might come near their nests, or as 
if he had robbed them before; but there are six or ten red squirrels 
in my yard, and I have never caught one killing young birds. You 
must watch him yourself; and when you see him do it (not hear him, 
nor hear about him), when you see him robbing a nest, make him into 
pot-pie right off. Then write me a letter telling me all about what 
you saw him do.* 

The President of the American Audubon Association has 
said: 

In some country places the squirrels are a menace to our native 
birds. In Evanston, for a number of years, there was a penalty at- 
tached to the killing of squirrels. We learned, however, to our sor- 
row, that the squirrels were destroying our birds' nests, and were 
causing song birds to leave us. I caused this law protecting the squir- 
rels to be repealed, and we soon noticed the increase in the number of 
our song birds. We know that the birds are worth more than the 
squirrels. 

In Farmers" Bulletin 609 issued by the United States Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, we find the opinion of another expert, who 
is discussing the care of bird houses. 

Squirrels give more or less trouble by gnawing houses, eating eggs, 
and killing nestlings. Red squirrels, in particular, have a bad reputa- 
tion in this respect, and many experimenters keep their grounds free 
from them. Some regard flying squirrels as but little better than 
red ones. Even gray and fox squirrels are occasionally troublesome. 

*Copyright, the Century Company, from Beyond the Pasture Bats. 



TO ENGLISH 281 

It is not necessary, however, that bird lovers should wage indiscrimi- 
nate warfare against all squirrels. It is far better to adopt the rule 
never to kill a squirrel unless there is reason to believe that it has 
acquired the habit of eating eggs or young birds; the result will probably 
be that not more than one red squirrel in fifty nor more than one gray 
squirrel in a hundred will have to be killed. Where squirrels are 
numerous they give more or less trouble by gnawing and disfiguring 
houses. This damage may be prevented, however, by covering the 
parts about the entrance with tin or zinc. 

It will be a good plan to begin preparations for the debate 
about a week before it is to be held, for then the class will 
have plenty of time to think about both sides of the subject 
and to find and consider evidence. First study the bits of 
evidence in this lesson. 

When we get ready for our debate, we must try to get as 
much good evidence as we can. W r e must study both sides 
of the question, for we need to be able to answer the arguments 
of our opponents. We can talk with people about the question; 
also, we may be able to find some information in books written 
by naturalists and bird-lovers. We may be able to do some 
observing for ourselves, besides. 

We may divide up the class by putting the odd numbers on 
one side and the even numbers on the other. Or, if the numbers 
happen to be equal, girls may debate against boys. When the 
divisions are made, a good way to proceed is as follows. After 
evidence has been collected, both "sides" meet separately, and 
each appoints a chairman. Then the question is talked over in 
these meetings, and each "side," directed by its chairman, elects 
a team of three or four debaters. The members of the team 
divide the points of the question among them, and arrange 
for one of their number to give the "rebuttal" or answer the 
arguments of the opposing team. The members of the class 
who are not on one of the teams will help to collect evidence, 
and give as much help as possible to the representatives they 
have elected to battle for them. 

When the debate is given, pupils from an upper class may be 
invited to act as judges. 



282 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON 132 A 

Oral Composition 38 
'A Trial in Court 

Who has seen a trial? Has any niember of the class a relative 
who is a lawyer or a judge? Just for fun, we might turn our 
classroom into a courtroom, and conduct the trial of a certain 
well-known and very troublesome individual. His name is 
English Sparrow. 

We can try him on several different charges. We can accuse 
him of being a vagrant — a worthless loafer — and perhaps we 
can prove the charge. We can also bring against him the charge 
of being a public nuisance. Maybe we can even charge him with 
robbery, housebreaking, or assault. In fact, we can bring one 
charge after another against Sparrow, and we may possibly 
convict him on all of them. 

In our court we must have a judge, of course. Then we must 
have a jury of twelve, who decide whether the accused has been 
shown to be guilty of any charge brought against him. There 
must be an attorney who prosecutes the accused individual; 
and everybody, no matter how bad, is entitled to an attorney 
to defend him. The attorney for the defense must try hard to 
destroy the evidence presented against his client, and must 
bring up any good thing about him that he can think of. If he 
sees that his case is sure to be lost and that his client will be 
punished, he may try to have the punishment made as light 
as possible. 

After the judge and jury have listened to the arguments of 
the lawyers, the stories of witnesses, and the statements that 
the accused makes in his own defense, the judge gives advice 
or instructions to the jury. Then the jury must retire to another 
room, where they will decide upon the case. All twelve votes 
must be given against the prisoner before he can be declared 
guilty. If the jury decides that he has been proved guilty, the 
judge then gives him his sentence. 



TO ENGLISH 283 

In working up our trial we must try to find out as much about 
trials and courts as we can. Perhaps some of us can observe a 
real trial. We can all read about trials, and ask questions about 
them. In this trial, the attorney for the defense will have a 
hard task, for people will have a great deal of prejudice against 
his client. He should confer with the pupil who takes the part 
of the prisoner, and make plans for the defense. He must be 
ready to put up a game fight to the last. The judge must see 
to it that the jury decides fairly, not upon their personal opin- 
ions, but upon the evidence presented. 

Here are some suggestions for making out the charges against 
Mr. Sparrow. If he is found guilty of one or more charges, 
should he be sentenced to death or to banishment from the 
country ? 

The Case of the Government Against the English Sparrow. 

Extracts from Farmers' Bulletin 493. U. S. Department of Agri- 
culture. 

The English sparrow among birds, like the rat among mammals, 
is cunning, destructive, and filthy. Its natural diet consists of seeds, 
but it eats a great variety of other foods. 

As a flock of fifty sparrows requires daily the equivalent of a quart 
of wheat, the annual loss caused by these birds throughout the country 
is very great. It reduces the number of some of our most useful and 
attractive native birds, as bluebirds, house wrens, purple martins, tree 
swallows, cliff swallows and barn swallows, by destroying their eggs 
and young and by usurping nesting places. It attacks other familiar 
species, as the robin, wren, red-eyed vireo, cat bird, and mocking bird, 
causing them to desert parks and shady streets of towns. Unlike our 
native birds whose place it usurps, it has no song, but is noisy and 
vituperative. 

The evidence against the English sparrow is, on the whole, over- 
whelming, and the present unfriendly attitude of the public toward it 
is reflected in our state laws. Nowhere is it included among protected 
birds. 

One of the greatest objections to the English sparrow is its aggres- 
sive antagonism toward the small native birds, especially those fa- 
miliar species which, like itself, build their nests in cavities. Nest 
boxes provided for bluebirds, martins, or wrens — birds both useful and 
pleasing — too often fall into the possession of this graceless alien. 



284 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON 132 B 

Oral Composition 39 

A Thankful Client 

When the great novelist, Sir Walter Scott, was practicing law, he 
was once called upon to defend a certain well-known poacher and 
sheep-stealer. Almost everyone was sure that the rascal had been 
catching hares illegally. However, as it was impossible to prove the 
charge against him, he was released. 

"You're a lucky scoundrel," Scott whispered to his client, when the 
verdict of the court was pronounced. 

"I'm just o' the same opinion," replied the poacher, "and I'll send 
ye a fine hare in the morning, man." — Adapted from Lockhart. 

Exercise. Prepare to tell orally a little incident from the 
life of some author or other famous person. Let it be very short. 
like the one given above. Use several direct quotations. 

Spelling 59 

In connection with this short oral lesson the teacher may 
assign a review of some Spelling Sections like 54, 55, 56, or of 
some earlier sections in which the class is not yet perfect. 



LESSON 132 C 

Oral Composition 40 
Questions for Class Debates 

In preparing to debate these questions, use both your own 
observation and the opinions of authorities, which you learn 
by conversation and reading. 

1. Resolved, that it is wrong to keep wild animals in captivity. 

2. Resolved, that motor-cars and tractors can altogether take the 
place of horses. 



TO ENGLISH 285 

3. Resolved, that in this age of typewriters it is not worth while to 
practice penmanship. 

4. Resolved, that the sale of rifles and shotguns to persons under 
the age of twenty-one should be prohibited by law. 

5. Resolved, that pupils who dislike mathematics should not be 
forced to take the subject. 

6. Resolved, that boys and girls should be required to wear uni- 
forms to school. 

7. Resolved, that we could do without movies more easily than with- 
out books. 

8. Resolved, that the riding of motorcycles on roads and streets 
should be prohibited. 



LESSON 132 D 

Written Composition 46* 
A Class Book 

Will your class leave anything by which later classes may 
remember it? How would it be for the class to write a little 
book which could be presented to the school library for those 
who come after you to read when you have passed on? It can 
be done, and it is worth doing. 

Naturally, your book will be divided into chapters. If a small 
committee works on each chapter, it will not be long before 
your book is done. Then it can be typed, illustrated, and bound, 
so that it will be a work of which the class may be proud. 

There are many good subjects that may be chosen for such a 
book. One possible subject is Carrying the United States Mail. 
This subject might be divided into the following eight chapters. 

1. The pony express 

2. The stage coach 

*Note for Teachers: The authors do not recommend the use of projects of this character 
except for classes of unusual advancement that have adequate library facilities at their disposal. 
Where conditions are otherwise, the attempt is likely to result in a waste of valuable time. 



286 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

3. The dog-sled in the North 

4. The railway mail service today 

5. The air mail service 

6. Delivery in a city 

7. Rural free delivery 

8. How Uncle Sam handles registered mail 

Another good subject is Heating the American Home. We 
might trace the history of home-heating through the following- 
nine chapters. 

1. Indian heating 

2. The Pilgrim Fathers and their heating devices 

3. The old-fashioned fireplace such as Whittier knew 

4. The wood stove 

5. Coal heaters 

6. The hot-air furnace 

7. How a house is heated by steam 

8. Hot-water heating systems 

9. Gas and electric heaters 

A third suggestion for a subject is American Transportation. 
In tracing this subject through American history we might 
write the following chapters. 

1. Columbus and his vessels 

2. The Mayflower 

3. The ox-wagon 

4. The Indian canoe 

5. The saddle horse 

6. The prairie schooner 

7. The canal-boat 

8. Early steamboats 

9. Modern lake and river craft 

10. Early railroads 

11. The bicycle and the motorcycle 

12. The snowshoe and the dog-sled 

13. The modern railway 

14. The history of street cars and electric railways 

15. The story of the automobile 

16. Balloons and aircraft 



TO ENGLISH 287 

LESSON X 133* 

Grammar 25 
Who, Which, and That in Clauses 

If you want to know anything about a clause, you must first 
separate it from the rest of the sentence. Never try to study a 
clause until you have taken it out of the sentence. That sounds 
easy — doesn't it? It is easy. Yet many pupils always have 
trouble because they will not follow that simple piece of advice. 
You will be far along on the grammar road when you learn to 
"take the clause out of the sentence." 

Suppose you were studying this sentence: "I like toast that 
is brown on both sides." What is the clause? The clause is 
"that is brown on both sides." 

Write that down. You will always find that a clause, when you 
set it down separately like that, has a verb. It is not a complete 
sentence, but it is very much like one. First find the verb. The 
verb is is. Who or what is? That is. The pronoun that is the 
subject, just as it or he or she might be the subject in a sentence. 
Brown is a predicate adjective modifying that On both sides is a 
phrase modifying the verb is, telling where it is brown. 

Always take the clause out first. Even if you do not write it 
on the board or on paper, you must think of "lifting it out of the 
sentence." Make your mind see the clause as if it were cut 
away from the rest of the sentence, or as if it had a ring drawn 
around it. Then look for the verb. Then ask, "Who or what?" 
If you will always take those three steps, in that order, you will 
find that work with clauses is easy. 

Take the clause out of this sentence, also: "She is a teacher 
in whom I have confidence." 

The clause is "in whom I have confidence." The verb is have. 
The subject is I. Whom is the object of in, just as if it were "in 
her." Confidence is the object of have. Have is modified by the 
phrase in whom. 

*This and the following grammar lessons, numbered with an "X," are intended only for the 
use of forward classes that can profit by such advanced work. 



288 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

If we want to use the pronoun that instead of whom, we have 
to do a queer thing. We cannot say "in that I have confidence." 
We must put in at the end of the clause. 

She is a teacher that I have confidence in. 

That is the object of in, even though in comes after it and is 
far away from it. 

Who, which, and that are called "relative pronouns" because 
they relate to some noun or pronoun that comes before them. 
Relative pronouns form adjective clauses that modify the noun 
or pronoun. Every clause that they make is like a little sen- 
tence in which there is a subject and a verb. Inside this clause 
the relative pronoun is always one of three things: (l) It may 
be the subject of the verb. (2) It may be the object of the verb. 
(3) It may be the object of a preposition. These uses are called 
the "constructions." A relative pronoun always has one cf the 
three constructions. 

Study each clause in the eleven sentences of Lesson 131 B. 
First say what noun the clause modifies. Notice that a clause 
is not always next to the word it modifies. 

X is the letter of the alphabet that is used least. 

What are we talking about that is used least? Surely it is not 
the alphabet. It is the letter that is used least. 

Then tell (1) the verb of the clause, (2) the subject of the verb, 
(3) the construction of the relative pronoun. 



LESSON X 134 

Grammar 26 

Study of relative clauses might be hard in long sentences that 
contained many clauses of all sorts. But in short sentences, if 
we know that there is only one clause, the study is easy enough 
for the eighth year. 



TO ENGLISH 289 

Study the clauses in the twenty sentences given below. 
Prepare to recite in this order : 

1. Take the clause out of the sentence. 

2. What noun or pronoun does it modify? 

3. What is the verb? 

4. What is the subject of the verb? 

5. What is the construction of the relative pronoun? 

1 . In his hand he held a hat which needed mending. 2. She carried 
a huge glass pitcher that was half full of milk. 3. Spring is the time 
that I love. 4. Here is the picture at which I was looking. 5. May 
I see the picture that you are looking at? 6. We place 99 out of every 
100 people who apply to us. 7. Biology is a study about which I 
know nothing. 8. There are two names in the lesson that I don't 
know about. 9. He has a trick that I should like to know about. 
10. There is a red bulb that hangs from the tube. 11. She is a 
woman whom you can trust. 12. Our lesson is about China, which 
is an immense country. 13. The part of the picture that is black 
looks larger to me. 14. There is a big pine tree that you can steer by. 

15. The Russian had a bomb that he had arranged with a time-fuse. 

16. The wind blew back the ashes that I was emptying. 17. He had 
a megaphone that he spoke through. 18. He used to have a negro 
mammy whom he loved. 19. The belt that she admired cost too 
much. 20. The farmer from whom we bought eggs was a Lithuanian. 



LESSON X 135 



Grammar 27* 
More Adjective Clauses 

Sometimes clauses made with the conjunctions when, since, 
before, etc., or without any conjunction, modify a noun, and so 
are adjective clauses. 

1. Do you remember the time when Alex cried? 

2. Do you remember the day it snowed twelve inches? 

3. We found a spot where there were no ants. 

*This short lesson should be supplemented with some needed review in grammar, spelling, or 
"The Right Forms." 



290 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

In the next ten sentences there are six adjective clauses and 
four adverb clauses. Find each and say what it modifies. 

1. The world has changed in those thirteen years since you were 
born. 2. Gerald was as busy as a bee while we were having a pillow- 
fight. 3. The nurses whispered to each other during the hours when 
he slept. 4. He applied on the very day the factory closed down. 
5. We must fill our pens before the bell rings. 6. Grandmother 
suffered with neuralgia after she was sixty years old. 7. Of course I 
had to be sick on the very day there was a picnic. 8. Coal was made 
in those long ages our scientists tell us about. 9. Do you ever read 
after you have gone to bed? 10. Everybody was afraid to look at 
the spot where he went down. 



LESSON X 136 



Grammar 28 
Principal and Subordinate Clauses 

Now that you have done a good deal of work with clauses, 
you are ready to learn what "principal" and "subordinate" 
mean. Thus far we have used "clause" to mean a group of 
words used as an adjective or an adverb or a noun. Such a 
clause, although it contains a subject and a verb, cannot stand 
alone as a sentence. It is only a part of a sentence — a little 
"zero group" of words. Since it is so weak and inferior, it is 
called a "subordinate" clause — meaning that it is of low rank. 

Learn the full definition : A subordinate clause is a group of 
words, containing a subject and a verb, that is used like a single 
word in the sentence. 

The part of a sentence that could stand alone as a complete 
statement or question is called the "principal clause." 
The watch that lies on the desk cost $79 

The principal clause is "The watch cost $79." The subordinate 
clause is "that lies on the desk." It is used like an adjective 
because it modifies a noun. 

Examples of noun clauses and adverb clauses follow: 

1. I fear you didnt study hard enough yesterday. 

2. Since this word does not make a statement, it cannot be a verb. 



TO ENGLISH 291 

In the first sentence the subordinate clause is the object of 
fear, and so is used like a noun. In the second sentence the 
subordinate clause modifies the verb can be, and so is used like 
an adverb. 

In each of these thirty sentences there is one principal clause 
and one subordinate clause. Separate each sentence into these 
two parts and say how the subordinate clause is used. Prepare 
to recite in this way: "The principal clause is I shall be sorry. 
The subordinate clause is if you have to go. The subordinate 
clause modifies the verb shall be. It is used like an adverb." 

1. The man who invented decimals probably lived in India. 

2. When you turn the knob, the current passes through the wire. 

3. The blue-print which he had spread out on the bricks was soiled 
and torn. 4. Tell me where I can see one of these milkers in opera- 
tion. 5. A tractor can plow where horses would be powerless. 
6. The strip of white that you see is not chalk-dust. 7. We rowed 
out to the little island where the lobster-pots were. 8. He recom- 
mended the pancakes as if he had cooked them himself. 9. Whatever 
you read in the Bible must be true. 10. The face that he saw in the 
mirror hardly looked like his own. 11. My idea is that the paint 
will not last three years. 12. I pleaded with Jennie, who finally 
agreed to come again the next day. 13. The period when I have most 
fun is the third in the morning. 14. You can add with your fingers 
while your eyes are on the ledger. 15. That there are still witches in 
America is the belief of Mr. Snowman. 16. If you look closer, you 
can see the speck. 17. We ought not to go unless we are specially 
invited. 18. My question is whether you were in the house by ten 
o'clock. 19. Mrs. Carey always took a sip of coffee before she began to 
eat her grape-fruit. 20. Do you think you ought to have your hair cut? 

21. There will be a fearful amount to do on the day before you leave. 

22. Where I always make an error is in adding 7 and 9. 23. The 
bracket which holds up this leaf is strong enough to support a man. 

24. This draft in the back of the car is what I don't understand. 

25. I don't like this wall-paper, because it seems to be full of crawling 
things. 26. The neatness that she showed in her arithmetic paper 
attracted the manager. 27. There are flaws in this great wheel which 
you cannot see without a microscope. 28. What makes Otto happy 
is some clowns and a din of jazzy music. 29. After the water has all 
run out, hang the hose up to dry. 30. The mystery about this trick 
was how he could carry a pair of guinea-pigs under his coat-tails. 



292 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

LESSON X 137 

Grammar 29 

Transitive Verbs 

If a verb has an object, it is called "transitive active." The 
word "transitive" means "going across." A transitive active 
verb shows that the subject is acting directly upon something, 
without a preposition. 

1. A little oil will stop the squeak. 

2. We have never seen a twenty-inning game in our tow n . 



3. You can feel the cold ai 



A verb is transitive active if it has a noun clause for an object. 

1. I suppose that he will. 

2. We heard you icere ill. 

If the subject is acted upon, the verb is called "transitive 
passive." The subject is passive; it receives the action. 

1. The squeak can be stopped by a little oil. 

2. A twenty-inning game has never been seen in bur town. 

3. The cold air is felt more in spring. 

You can easily become used to the sound and feeling of a 
passive verb. It always has two or more parts. It nearly 
always ends in d or t or n. It always means that something 
is being done or will be done or has been done. 

1. I was dragged through the hole. 

2. The language has been spoken for 4000 years. 

3. The melons should have been cut in smaller pieces. 

4. The leaves are now being printed. 

Each of the nineteen sentences on the next page contains 
one transitive verb. Decide whether the verbs are active or 
passive. Give your reasons thus : "The verb broke is transitive 
active because there is an object, windowpanes." "The verb 
were broken is passive because the subject, windowpanes, is 
acted upon." 



TO ENGLISH 293 

1. The brake is controlled by a lever. 2. The ball should have 
been thrown to third. 3. Wilkins knew the road perfectly. 4. The 
house was built in 1792. 5. Warren sharpened his pencil to a fine 
point. 6. We have been selling these at a reduction. 7. The bread 
had all been sold by eleven o'clock. 8. Close the door. 9. You 
should have swept the dining-room. 10. The juice was squeezed 
out thoroughly. 11. Who teaches the cooking class now? 12. She 
had been taught by a Swiss professor. 13. Now the geese can be 
seen every day. 14. The pipe has been burst by the frost in three 
places. 15. These remarks from the grandstand hurt his pride. 
16. I had forgotten you were absent. 17. Some new blackboards 
are much needed in this room. 18. She is wringing the clothes with 
her hands. 19. Where could we have bought any bigger oranges? 



LESSON X 138 



Grammar 30 

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs 

If a verb is neither active nor passive, it is called "intransi- 
tive." 

1. The water feels w T arm. 

2. I shot at the clay pipes. 

3. His great-grandfather was an Indian. 

4. Washington had been colonel in his younger days. 

Examine those words after the verbs. Warm is a predicate 
adjective, describing water. Pipes is the object of the preposi- 
tion at. Indian is a predicate nominative; it means the same as 
the subject. Colonel is a predicate nominative; it means the 
same thing as Washington. In these four sentences there is no 
object. Not one of the four subjects is acted upon. Therefore 
all the verbs are intransitive. 

Decide about each verb in the twenty sentences on page 294. 
First ask, "Is there an object?" If there is, the verb is transi- 
tive active. If there is no object, ask, "Is the subject acted 
upon?" If it is acted upon, the verb is transitive passive. 
If the verb is neither active nor passive, it is intransitive. 



294 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

1. The coils were twisted by the heat. 2. A fog settled down on 
the channel. 3. A tireless cooker would be a handy thing. 4. He 
bruised his left hand. 5. The driving wheel revolves once in three- 
fourths of a second. 6. Pussy-willows sometimes come out in Janu- 
ary. 7. The paste was laid on the tooth-brush in a flat ribbon. 
8. The caramels were thrown into the coal-hod. 9. We could not 
eat the salty fish. 10. She threw her hands up in astonishment. 
11. The steeple blocks our view to the south. 12. The mountains 
rose directly from the ocean. 13. The oxen were pulling very hard. 
14. The six shirts were neatly packed in tissue paper. 15. How are 
you getting on? 16. The logs were run into the mill on smooth 
rollers. 17. The logs were sljding down the greased chute. 18. In 
his excitement he thrust a five-dollar bill into my hand. 19. The 
smoke from the engine was blown back in our faces. 20. Tomorrow 
morning I must report to my employer. 



LESSON X 139 



Grammar 31 
More About Verbs 

Decide whether each verb in the sentences on page 295 is 
active, passive, or intransitive. In most of the sentences 
there is a subordinate clause. Never try to decide about the 
verb in a subordinate clause until you have "lifted it out of 
the sentence." Then find the subject. Then — and not till 
then — will you be ready to ask, "Is there an object?" "Is the 
subject acted upon?" 

Remember that relative pronouns — which, who, what, and 
that — are frequently the objects of verbs. 

I want the one that you have. 

Have is active, because it has the object that. 

Remember that you cannot be sure about questions until 
you have put the words into the form of a statement. 

1. What are you doing? 

2. You are doing what. 



TO ENGLISH 295 

We see that are doing is active, because it has the object what. 

1. We think that he has been cheated. 2. The ribbon that I hold 
in my hand was made in Paterson. 3. A man who always smiles 
will probably succeed. 4. If the hammer had been made of better 
steel, it would not have broken. 5. Do you think you can go? 6. I 
was startled when he walked into my room without knocking. 7. Un- 
less you have been brought up on a farm, you won't care for my story. 
8. Francis raised his hat as he rolled by. 9. I was getting well 
rapidly until I caught that cold. 10. Archie was able to guide the 
dog by a string that passed around the dog's lower jaw. 11. They 
came down together in the middle of the road with the shock of a 
railway collision. 12. As soon as I could get my head above water, 
I yelled for help. 13. The truth may be that the physician doesn't 
know anything about my case. 14. In the daily food of several mil- 
lions of Americans there is too much meat. 



LESSON X 140 

Grammar 32 
Verbals as Adjectives 

You have been told many times that the "ing" words are not 
verbs. You must have wondered what they are. 

They are partly like verbs, because they may be modified by 
adverbs. 

writing slowly, telephoning now 

Also they may take objects, as verbs do. 

sending a message, teasing the dog 

But they are not verbs. Some of them are really adjectives, 
a blustering day, a cooling drink 

Since they are somewhat like verbs and are used as adjectives, 
they may be called "verbal adjectives." Another name that 
is more convenient is "participles." 



296 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

A participle cften conies after the noun or pronoun that it 
modifies. 

1. Preston, thinking no one saw him. slipped out. 
-2. All of us, feeling sorry for our actions, were ready to apolo- 
gize. 

A participle may come far in front of the noun or pronoun 
that it modifies. 

1. Supposing that no one was watching him, Preston slipped 

out. 

2. Wishing to show him that there was no hard feeling. I 

smiled. 

We find out what word a participle modifies by asking "Who 
or what?" about it. Who or what supposing? The answer is 
"Preston." Who or what wishing? The answer is "L" 

Find one participle in each of these ten sentences and say 
what it modifies. 

1. Holding the shingle in her hand, she examined it closely. 2. His 
aching feet could walk no farther. 3. There she stood, still holding 
the horseshoe in a tight grasp. 4. His voice inspired us all, calling- 
out calmly that there was no danger. 5. Clement strained his eyes, 
hoping to see the signal. 6. The water coming out now is warmer. 
7. Slipping on a sweater and a pair of overalls, I rushed out of my 
tent. 8. There stood Cora on tiptoe, trying to reach a jar of preserves. 
9. On our left was a roaring cascade of yellow water. 10. It is easy 
to operate, not requiring attention more than twice a day. 

There is another kind of participle, shown in the sentences 
below. 

1. A pretty house, built of tiles, stands under a sycamore. 

2. The ice, partly melted by the rain, was no longer safe. 

3. An automobile drawn by horses is laughable. 

4. There is no set rule. 

.5. Parsons was a trusted cashier in the bank. 

Those words do not make statements. They do not say that a 
house has been built or that the ice was melted or that an auto- 



TO ENGLISH 297 

mobile was drawn. They are simply set alongside a noun or 
pronoun to modify it; they are verbal adjectives — another kind 
of participle. 

They are called "passive participles," because they show that 
the word they modify has been acted upon. Have you noticed 
that they end in d or t or n? 

In each sentence below there is one passive participle. Find 
it and show — by asking "Who or what?" — what word it modi- 
fies. 

1. The strain is overcome by an arm of pressed steel. 2. Her 
flushed face showed how timid she was. 3. We sent him a steamer- 
basket packed with all sorts of candies and fruits. 4. A crate of 
strawberries, offered for sale at six cents a box, rotted on the stand. 
5. I wish we could have some goblets of cut glass. 6. Seen at a dis- 
tance, the village is rather attractive. 7. A ten-inch trout, caught 
in this mass of sticks, was thrashing about furiously. 8. Milk kept 
next to kerosene will take up the disagreeable odor. 9. A noun set 
next to another noun to explain it is an "appositive." 10. A verb- 
like word used to modify a noun or pronoun is a participle. 



LESSON X 141 



Grammar 33 
Verbals as Nouns 
Some "ing" words are used as nouns. 

1. The silver needs a hard rubbing. 

2. By drawing the bow slowly you get a better tone. 

3. Telling fortunes is her favorite pastime. 

In the first sentence rubbing is the object of needs. In the sec- 
ond sentence drawing is the object of by. In the third sentence 
telling is the subject of is. Such words are partly like verbs 
because they may be modified by adverbs (like drawing slowly) 
and may have objects (like drawing the bow) . But they do not 
make statements. They are verbal nouns. Their special name 
is "gerunds." 



298 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

Find one verbal noun in each sentence below and give its 
construction — that is, tell what it is a subject of, or an object 
of, or show that it is a predicate nominative. 

1. Playing with your pencil is no way to work arithmetic. 2. Ht 
pleased us by his way of bowing when he refused. 3. There was 
much rushing back and forth. 4. Our first trouble was trying to 
remove the putty. 5. Don't you enjoy roasting marshniallows? 
6. Advertising has become a fine art nowadays. 7. The sticks can 
now be driven into place by using a sledge-hammer. 8. There must 
be a general cleaning out of desks this morning. 9. For Mrs. Seeley 
the keeping of accounts was a dark mystery. 10. Don't write with- 
out consulting me. 

Suitable sentences for further exercise will be found on page 
299. 



LESSON X 142 

Grammar 34 
The "to" Verbals az ITouns 
Words like to see, to be, to be caught are used as nouns. 

1. I want to see the sight. 

2. To be alone in the house was terrifying, 

3. My hope is to be elected tonight. 

To see is the object of want. To be is the subject of was. To be 
elected is a predicate nominative after is. 

Such words are called "infinitives." An infinitive is some- 
what like a verb, since it may have an object (to see the sight) 
or may be modified by an adverb (to be elected tonight). But 
infinitives do not make statements. They are verbal nouns. 

There are some longer infinitives, like to have been beaten, to 
have been wandering; and there are some infinitives without any 
to. But none of this sort are in the exercise. Also there are 
many uses of infinitives that are too hard for us at present. In 
this exercise all the infinitives are either subjects or predicate 
nominatives or objects. 



TO ENGLISH . 299 

There is only one new idea to learn before you do the exercise, 
and that is not hard. It is just like what you learned about 
there when you were studying nouns. There comes first in some 
sentences and looks like a subject, but is not a subject. 

There are some marks on the blade. 

The marks are; the subject is marks. 

In the same way the word it is used with infinitives to push 
the real subject beyond the verb. 

1. It is hard to divide fractions. 

2. It would have been queer to icear furs on that hot day. 

What is hard? The real answer is not that "it" is hard, because 
we do not know what "it" is. The sentence says that "to 
divide fractions is hard." The real subject is to divide. The 
it which comes first in the sentence is a make-believe; it only 
looks like a subject. The real subject is to divide. What 
would have been queer? To wear furs would have been queer. 
The real subject is to wear. 

In each of the twenty sentences of this exercise there is one 
infinitive used as a noun — either as a subject or predicate 
nominative or object. Find each one and say how it is used. 

1. I shall have to go soon. 2. It is wonderful to see her dive into 
that shallow tank. 3. The new dress was to be tried on in the morn- 
ing. 4. I should like to remark that a billion dollars is a rather large 
sum. 5. How does he dare to speak so? 6. It is not easy to see the 
joke in this cartoon. 7. It was ridiculous to hear the wedding march 
during a picture of a barnyard scene. 8. Our spring goods are to be 
exhibited soon. 9. I hate to jump out of bed on a cold morning. 
10. To look squarely at your audience is a good plan. 11. It may be 
wise to speak more politely. 12. Do you intend to give that answer 
to the superintendent? 13. What she likes is to have presents of 
flowers and candy. 14. We must refuse to listen to such talk. 15. It 
may not be easy to refuse. 16. How I long to travel abroad ! 17. To 
dig any deeper would have been too expensive. 18. Those bars of 
copper were to be made into telephone wire. 19. Don't you dread to 
speak before visitors? 20. No, it isn't impossible to learn about the 
other uses of infinitives. 



SUMMARY OF MINIMUM ABILITY FOR PROMOTION 
TO THE NINTH YEAR 

1. Early Knowledge. Knowledge of the first quarter of the 
book is more important for promotion than knowledge of the 
last quarter. The most important requirement at the end of 
the eighth year is a ready and habitual command of the first 
three-quarters of the book, as summarized on pages 80-81, 147- 
148, 206-207. In addition, the pupil should prove that he is 
competent in the minima of Lessons 99-132, as specified below. 

2. Spelling. The pupil should be able to spell unfailingly in 
dictation the ie words — believe, relieve, thief, piece, field, fierce, 
brief, chief, view, friend; answer, interest, benefit, surprise, shoulder, 
double, trouble, pleasant (43, page 209; 45, page 216); the con- 
tractions made with personal pronouns and have, are, etc.; 
probably, since, quite (44, page 212); the derived forms of occur, 
begin, control (46, page 220); the derived forms of busy, easy, 
heavy, lucky, happy, lonely (47, page 221); principal, accept, 
affectionately, immediately, weather, arrangement, etc. (48, page 
225); the adjectives in fid, forty, tying, lying, dying (50, page 
238); sincerely, surely, lovely, safety, entirely, definitely (53, 
page 256); regular past tenses like played, used, used to: quiet, 
athletics, article, particle, address (54, page 257) ; possessive plural; 
straight, course, corner (55, page 261); the ei words — either, 
neither, seize, weird, freight, weight, conceit, deceive, receive (57, 
page 264); minute, around, arouse, again, against, captain, 
certain, disagreeable, disappear, disappointed (58, page 267). 

3. Grammar. The pupil should be able to recognize any 
ordinary predicate nominative (11, page 210), any ordinary 
adjective and the predicate use (12, page 213; 14, page 228; 
16, page 258), any ordinary adverb (15. page 239; 17, page 263; 
18, page 265). He should be able to explain the uses of pre- 
positional phrases (19, page 269) and to recognize objects of 
verbs (20, page 271). In addition, if the subjects have been 
taught, he should understand indirect objects (21, page 273), 

300 



TO ENGLISH 301 

the simplest uses of clauses in easy sentences (22, page 275 ; 23, 
page 276; 24, page 278), the distinction between transitive and 
intransitive (29, page 292), and the simplest uses of verbals 
(32, page 295; 33, page 297; 34, page 298). 

4. Punctuation. The pupil should have formed habits of 
using the comma after introductory clauses (11, page 226) and 
before but (12, page 233), for (14, page 245), and in compound 
sentences (15, page 249) ; of using the proper punctuation with 
so and so that. He should habitually punctuate undivided 
quotations correctly (16, page 250). If Lessons 121 B, 122 A, 
122 B, have been taught, he should be able to write divided 
quotations and to set off non-restrictive participial groups. 

5. Oral Composition. It is impossible to prescribe the exact 
degree of excellence which the pupil should display in oral 
composition. Individuals differ in ability by reason of differ- 
ences in speech-organs. Again, some are naturally quiet and 
slow of speech, while others are glib and loquacious. The teach- 
er must be the judge of each pupil's progress. She may expect 
that the normal pupil shall by this time be free from nervous- 
ness and embarrassment when speaking before his classmates, 
that his position shall be easy and natural, and that he shall 
be able to deliver his short prepared talks in sentences that are 
correct and somewhat varied in form. Naturally, he should 
show a marked gain in power of organizing his thoughts within 
small units. His vocabulary should be appropriate to the class- 
room in its freedom from vulgarisms and objectionable types of 
slang. The "Right Forms" should function as habits. 

6. Written Composition. It is not to be expected that all 
graduates of the eighth year will display much power or charm 
in writing. Only a few adults can do that. It can be demanded 
of the pupil who is to be promoted that he write with substantial 
freedom from sentence-errors and observe in his formal written 
work all the minimal requirements stated under 1, 2, 3, and 4. 



SUPPLEMENTARY WORD-LIST FOR USE IN 
SPELLING-MATCHES 



knowledge 


interrupt 


written 


principle 


recognize 


unanimous 


physical 


tyranny 


won't 


erroneous 


careful 


source 


advice 


conquer 


extremely 


profession 


dissipated 


clothes 


taking 


forth 


cemetery 


similar 


advisable 


economize 


significant 


existing 


minimum 


entirely 


awful 


dropped 


doctor 


hoping 


stationery 


acquaintance 


definite 


intention 


extension 


refer 


Indian 


undoubtedly 


formerly 


hurrying 


awkward 


although 


cautious 


convenient 


government 


resource 


influential 


criticism 


murmur 


severely 


sentinel 


arguing 


extensive 


college 


prominent 


recommend _^f 


tragedy 


coherence 


imagine 


chauffeur 


planned 


writing 


appearance 


immense 


without 


equipped 


comparatively 


indefinitely 


successful 


prophecy 


angel 


excellent 


existence 


compulsory 


naturally 


particularly 


medicine 


succeed 


indispensable 


laboratory 9 


financial 


prefer 


collapse 


accomplish 


thoroughly 


discussion 


decision 


prophesy 


finally 


possessive 


studying 


irresistible 


unnecessary 


organization 


welfare 


argument 


acknowledge 


precede 


opportunity 


commission 


therefore 


putting 


proceed 


propaganda 


mathematics 


height 


absolutely 


accuracy 


achievement 


prevalent 


militarism 


desirable 


deficient 


propelled 


preparation 


exhausted 


everywhere 


equivalent 


conscience 


choose 


inevitable 


permissible 


completely 
302 


necessary 



SUPPLEMENTARY WORD-LIST 



303 



lying 


realize 


necessity 


preferred 


seems 


antecedent 


amount 


remembrance 


Wednesday 


amateur 


arrangement 


referring 


association 


occasionally 


fundamental 


especially 


possession 


assistant 


parallel 


accommodate 


magnificent 


enthusiastic 


baseball 


competent 


approach 


proceed 


acquire 


replies 


allowed 


useful 


dependent 


agreeable 


which 


chosen 


Britain 


development 


privilege 


chocolate 


modifying 


battalion 


brilliant 


arctic 


expense 


loving 


decide 


authorities 


pursue 


muscle 


scene 


village 


definitely 


nervous 


perceive 


scarcely 


obedience 


conceive 


perspiration 


sacrifice 


innocence 


judgment 


enormous 


vengeance 


committee 


permanent 


committed 


lightning 


barbarous 


swimming 


effect 


guard 


excel 


criticize 


restaurant 


through 


breathe 


offered 


account 


victorious 


grievous 


descend 


practically 


unconscious 


systematic 


expected 


element 


suppressed 


likely 


extraordinary 


compelled 


merely 


assassination 


leisure 


supplies 


adviser 


ambitious 


repetition 


ineligible 


luxuries 


ecstasy 


forty 


balance 


genius 


declarative 


cloud 


chimney 


discipline 


tournament 


dealt 


using 


attacked 


totally 


attractive 


mournful 


prejudice 


experience 


villain 


aggression 


superintendent 


vegetation 


carriage 


loose 


journey 


stayed 


sergeant 


apparent 


peaceable 


ascend 


religious 


superstition 


competition 


wasted 


interfering 


having 


difference 


misspell 


attempt 


efficient 


evidently 


nevertheless 


noticeable 


throughout 


caterpillar 


people 


pursuit 



304 



THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 



harass 

aggravate 

positive 

benefited 

shepherd 

opponent 

secretary 

omitted 

tenant 

siege 

stationary 

summary 

endurance 

effective 

later 

career 

humorous 

valleys 

suspense 

comparison 

foreigner 

tasting 

embarrass 

courtesy 

opposite 

exhibit 

strengthen 

view 

valuable 

altar 

excitement 

ascertain 



niece 


handkerchief 


mountainous 


fourth 


preference 


ingenious 


infinitive 


absence 


detachment 


democracy 


eighth 


incidentally 


collection 


sensitive 


mattress 


tremendous 


hypocrisy 


despised 


desperate 


audience 


formally 


easily 


fascinate 


typical 


countries 


charity 


sophomore 


ninety 


library 


gases 


earnest 


science 


exhilarate 


wholly 


monotonous 


dilapidated 


except 


parliament 


address 


encouragement 


boundaries 


deceit 


mischievous 


carrying 


fiery 


itself 


shone 


professor 


purpose 


original 


guarantee 


perseverance 


nineteen 


exaggerate 


destruction 


reference 


peaceful 


sympathetic 


colonel 


governor 


enveloping 


coolly 


intelligible 


tying 



GRAMMAR APPENDIX 



All the grammar topics treated in the body of the book are directly 
useful for composition and are applied in the exercises. Teachers who 
wish to take up further points of syntax, or to require some study of 
definitions, forms, and classifications, will find all the subjects presented 
in compact form here. 

Footnotes for teachers discuss a number of moot points and give sug- 
gestions about methods of teaching. 

Topics are arranged in the following order: 



I. Verbs 

II. Verbals 

III. Nouns 

IV. Pronouns 
V. Adjectives 

VI. Adverbs 

VII. Prepositions 



VIII. Conjunctions 

IX. Interjections 

X. Phrases 

XI. Clauses 

XII. Sentences 

XIII. Ellipses 



I. Verbs 

1. Transitive and Intransitive.* If a verb shows that action passes 
from a doer to a receiver of the action, it is called "transitive." Other- 
wise it is "intransitive." 



2. Voice. If the subject of a transitive verb acts, the verb is in the 
active voice: "The ants built a bridge." If the subject is acted upon, 
the verb is in the passive voice: "A bridge uas built by the ants." An 
intransitive verb has no voice. 



3. Tense. t Forms of a verb that show 
called "tenses." There are six tenses: 



the time of the action are 



*Xotk for Teachers: In many grammars a transitive verb is denned as "one that requires 
an object to complete its meaning." This is nearly true of the Latin language, but has hardly any 
meaning when applied to English. Nearly all our verbs are used both transitively and intransi- 
tively; every so-called transitive verb may be used intransitively. What is more, the idea of 
"requires an object" misleads pupils in the worst way; for a transitive passive verb never has an 
object. The only proper and fair way to teach is to show pupils that we must decide about a verb 
by the way it is used in any given sentence. For example, if roar has an obiect (as in "roar these 
accusations forth"), it is transitive active; if it shows that the subject is acted upon, it is transitive 
passive; if it is neither active nor passive, it is intransitive. 

t See Section 9 below for full paradigm. 



CO.; 



3C6 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

ACTIVE 

(1) present — / ask, I am 

(2) perfect—/ have asked, I have 

been 

(3) past — I asked, I was 

(4) past perfect — I had asked, I 

had been 

(5) future — I shall ask; I shall be 

(6) future perfect — I shall have 

asked, I shall have been 
Tenses are best thought of in 
and past perfect, future and future perfect. 

4. Principal Parts. The present tense, the past tense, and the past 
participle of any verb are called its "principal parts." They can always 
be found by filling in the blanks of 

a. Right now I 

b. Yesterday I 

c. I have . 





PASSIVE 


(1) 


I am asked 


(2) 


I have been asked 


(3) 


I was asked 


(4) 


I had been asked 


(5) 


I shall be asked 


(0) 


I shall have been asked 


ree 


3airs: present and pei 



Thus: Right now I see, I am 
Yesterday I saw, I was 
I have seen, I have been 

5. The Two Conjugations. All verbs are divided into two classes, 
called "conjugations," according to the way the past tense is formed. 
The past tense of the great majority of verbs is formed by adding an 
ed or d or t which is not in the present tense: asked, defined, felt. These 
are called regular. Verbs of the irregular conjugation have a past tense 
that is formed by a vowel change: saw, ran, rose, sang, drew, clung, 
found. A few common verbs are so peculiar that no one formula will fit, 
and a complete analysis would be a complicated matter. But the one 
simple distinction is all that is important in school. 

Certain classes of verbs require a brief comment: 

a. Verbs ending in t that have the same form for all three principal 
parts (like put, set) are regular. 

b. Verbs that keep the same d or t ending in all their parts, and merely 
shorten the vowel for the past tense, are also regular (bleed, bled; speed, sped). 

c. If the past tense shows a t that is not in the present, the verb is 
regular (lend, lent). 

d. A few regular verbs have an abnormal ending — had (instead of 
haved), made (instead of maked). 

e. A sign of the irregular conjugation is that the past participle ends 
in n — seen, known. Hence Ave can argue that do is irregular. But the d 



APPENDIX 307 

in the past tense (did) makes it regular. So the verb do, like a few others, 
is said to be of "a mixed conjugation." 

6. Person. We learned on page 175 that "personal" pronouns are 
so named because they show "person" — that is, whether the subject 
speaks (first person), is spoken to (second person), or is spoken about 
(third person). A verb is said to be "in the first person" if its subject 
is / or we; "in the second person" if its subject is you (or ye or thou); 
"in the third person" if its subject is he, it, they, some, etc., or any noun. 

7. Number. A verb must "agree with its subject." If the subject 
is only one person or thing, the verb is "singular": he goes, the snowfalls 
(and see Nouns, page 313, 6, c). If the subject is more than one person 
or thing, the verb is plural: they go, the prices fall, his meaning and purpose 
are clear. (But if a plural subject clearly is thought of as only one item, 
the verb may be singular: bread and butter is plain fare. And if a singular 
noun clearly refers to several individuals, the verb may be plural: the 
committee were exchanging ideas, a lot of things are needed.) 

The old second person singular with thou is ordinarily made by adding 
st or est: thou pleasest, stoppest, seest, dost, canst, etc. Past tenses are 
similarly formed: walkedst, sawest, didst, hadst. The following are 
irregular: wast, hast, art, wert, shalt, wilt, must. The old third person 
singular is formed with th: he walketh, it hath, she doth. 

8. Mode. A verb that makes a statement of fact or that asks an 
ordinary question is said to be in the indicative mode (or mood). A 
verb that expresses a command is in the imperative mode. If a verb has 
a special form to show that it expresses a mere thought — a wish or a 
condition that is not fact — it is in the subjunctive mode, thus :* 

if I were King though he slay me 

though this be madness if he come 

would they had stayed if it fail 

The only modern form useful in school writing is were for a condition 
contrary to fact: 

if she were not so careless 
if this were not the case 
if I were you 

9. Conjugation of a verb. It is customary in grammars to give a list 
of the forms of some one verb, through the six tenses and the three modes, 
according to Latin models — thus: 

*Note for Teachers: There is no agreement among authorities as to what "subjunctive" 
means in English grammar. The English facts have been confused by comparison with Latin 
paradigms. Some grammars include verb phrases made with may, could, etc.; others call such 
phrases "potential." The definition here given is the only simple and safe one for school use, 
and is amply supported by authority. Unless a verb is clearly imperative or subjunctive, it 
should be called indicative. 



308 



THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 



I show 
you show 
he shows 

I have shown 
you have shown 
he has shown 

I showed 
you showed 
he showed 

I had shown 
you had shown 
he had shown 

I shall show 
you will show 
he will show 



INDICATIVE ACTIVE 

Present Tense 

we show 
you show 
they show 

Perfect Tense 

we have shown 
you have shown 
they have shown 

Past Tense 

we showed 
you showed 
they showed 

Past Perfect Tense 

we had shown 
you had shown 
they had shown 

Future Tense 

we shall show 
you will show 
thev will show 



Future Perfect Tense 
I shall have shown we shall have shown 

you will have shown you will have shown 

he will have shown thev will have shown 



INDICATIVE PASSIVE 

Present Tense 
I am shown we are shown 

you are shown you are shown 

he is shown they are shown 



I have been shown 
you have been shown 
he has been shown 



Perfect Tense 



we have been shown 
you have been shown 
thev have been shown 



I was shown 
you were shown 
he was shown 



Past Tense 



we were shown 
you were shown 
they were shown 



append::: 



.309 



I had been shown 
you had been shown 
he had been shown 

I shall be shown 
you will be shown 
he will be shown 



Past Perfect Tense 

we had been shown 
you had been shown 
they had been shown 

Future Tense 

we shall be shown 
you will be shown 
they will be shown 

Future Perfect Tense 
I shall have been shown we shall have been shown 

you will have been shown . you will have been shown 

he will have been shown they will have been shown 

SUBJUNCTIVE ACTIVE 

The only true subjunctive forms are in the third person singular — 
if he show, if he have shown. (See page 307.) 

SUBJUNCTIVE PASSIVE 

The only true subjunctive forms are be shown throughout the present 
tense, he have been shown in the perfect, and I were shown and he were 
shown in the past. 

IMPERATIVE 

Active show Passive be shown 



Active 
Passive 



Active 
Passive 



Active 
Passive 



INFINITIVES 

to show to have shown 

to be shown to have been shown 

GERUNDS 

showing having shown 

being shown having been shown 

PARTICIPLES 

showing having shown 

shown having been shown 



Thou Forms (See second paragraph of Sec. 7 above) 
Yet even this extended display is so very incomplete that it gives a 
wrong idea of the variety and flexibility of our verb forms. To present 
a full conjugation in three persons, two numbers, and both voices of all 
possible phrases that can be made with a short verb like ask would require 
many pages. For in addition to the phrases formed by am, is, were, etc., 
have, has, etc., do and did, there are all the phrases formed with the nine 
"auxiliaries": may, can, must, might, could, shall, will, should, would. 



310 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

With am, do, have, may, can, must, might, could, should, would we form 
present tenses; with was and did we form past tenses; with had we form 
past perfect tenses; with shall and will we form future tenses; with shall 
have and will have we form future perfect tenses. So far we are on fairly 
sure ground. But the analysis of some of the auxiliary verbs with have 
is a subtle and difficult task. Such verbs as can have seen, may have done 
are normally perfect, because they refer to action as just now completed. 
In the following sentences the verbs are past perfect, because they tell 
of an action completed in past time: 

That trick would have succeeded if the door had not opened. 
I may have lost the key before I reached Monroe Street. 
We should have been anxious without your telegram. 

10. Predicate. The verb with all its complements and modifiers 
is called the "predicate" of the sentence. 

II. THE PRINCIPAL FACTS ABOUT VERBALS 

(Seldom useful before the ninth year.) 
1. Infinitives. An infinitive is the simple form of a verb, usually 
with to, that is used like a noun, and that may at the same time be partly 
like a verb. It may be modified by an adverb, or may have an object 
or a predicate nominative. The point most useful in school is that 
infinitives are not verbs, because they do not make statements. In- 
finitives may have almost all the constructions of nouns. They are of 
great variety and are very common. They are occasionally used in 
peculiar idioms that can hardly be explained, but nearly always they can 
be shown to be used just as nouns are in similar constructions. 

a. About half the infinitives in our language are used as adjective 
or adverb modifiers: "I have a bone to pick with you." "We went to see 
what had happened." Such infinitives are really prepositional phrases, 
similar to "for picking" and "for seeing." Pick is the true infinitive; 
it is the object of to; the phrase modifies bone. See is the object of to; 
the phrase modifies went.* 

b. Sometimes to does not appear: "We saw it glide along." "The 
cold wind made him hurry." 

*Note for Teachers: It is proper and easy enough, for an older person, to say that such 
infinitives are like adjectives or adverbs, but to the child this is very confusing, because with 
every other part of speech we set up at the outset a simple definition of one use, and guide our- 
selves by that forever after. If, now, we say that "an infinitive is a queer thing used like any one 
of three parts of speech," we bewilder the child. The pupil is more easily taught if we say that 
infinitives are like nouns. In the case of the modifying infinitives like to pick we say that pick 
is the infinitive, that it is the object of to, and that the phrase modifies bone. Pupils learn readily 
by this method because they like to say "object of." This method conforms to the definition 
given in all dictionaries; it represents the historical fact; and it is the easy, profitable way to teach. 
Prof. W. D. Whitney, editor of the Century Dictionary, says in his Grammar: "The infinitive is 
really a verbal noun, and all its constructions are to be explained as such." 



APPENDIX 311 

c. In all other cases we consider to as part of the infinitive and explain 
its construction as that of a noun — for example: Subject of a verb — 
" To return was not easy." "It was hard to return." (See pronouns 
below: "Uses of it") Object of a verb — "We wanted to sell it." Predicate 
nominative — "Oranges are not to be had in the market." Appositions — 
"He has a queer task, to sell before he buys." 

d. Infinitives are often phrasal: to be seen, to have been seen, to have been 
sleeping. These should be treated as one single word. 

2. Gerunds. A gerund is an ing word that is formed from a verb, 
is used like a noun, and is partially like a verb: "Writing rapidly may be 
poor training." "I refer to your borrowing her diamonds yesterday." 
{Borrowing is the object of to; it has an object and is modified by an 
adverb.) There are a few words, like clothing, which were originally 
formed from verbs, but have become pure nouns; yet almost always an 
ing word that is formed from a verb and is used like a noun should be 
called a gerund, f 

Gerunds are often phrasal: "I hate being seen in his company." "He 
knew of my having been promoted." 

3. Participles. A participle is a word that is formed from a verb 
and is used like an adjective: 

a. An active participle ends in ing: "A growing tree." "A squirrel 
running up a tree." "The motorman, seeing the danger." "I was not 
at all pleased, supposing that I had been overlooked." (In the last 
sentence supposing modifies I.) The term "active" refers only to the 
form; it does not mean that the participle has an object. 

b. A passive participle ends usually in d or t or n or ng: "Some burned 
bread." "The lessons taught by missionaries." "The words of a little 
child spoken by an old man." "Songs sung at twilight." "Like a person 
struck by lightning." 

c. Participles are often phrasal: "The oldest child, having been silenced 
by a stick of candy." "My companion, being hurt by this remark." 

III. NOUNS 

1. Case. Case is the term used to describe the ways in which nouns 
and pronouns are used in sentences. (Whatever is said in this section 
about cases of nouns applies to pronouns also.) There are three cases: 
nominative, possessive, objective (or accusative). • 

tNoTE for Teachers: Sometimes the effort is made to teach children that "if the verbal 
force has been lost, the ing word is to be called a noun." But this is pure metaphysics; no two 
teachers can agree on how to draw the line between "Writing is an art" and "Writing rapidly is 
poor practice." _ No hard-and-fast line can be drawn between those two writings. The only 
plain and practical formula for school use is to say, "If it comes from a verb and is used like a 
noun, it is a gerund." There are very few nouns like matting and siding, and they never confuse 
pupils. 



312 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

a. There are six ways in which a noun may be in the nominative case: 
(1) subject of a verb and (2) predicate nominative are treated in the 
body of the book. 

(3) Address: "No, sir, I cannot." 

(4) Exclamation: "The sea! the open sea!" 

(5) Nominative absolute: "The time being short, we could not linger." 
A nominative absolute always consists of a noun or pronoun modified 
by a participle; the whole expression is used as a kind of adverbial modi- 
fier of the verb — e. g., the time being short modifies could linger, showing the 
reason. The participle is sometimes not expressed, as in "The race 
[being] over, we started home." 

(6) Apposition "This is a casaba, a delicious melon" 

b. The possessive case is formed by adding an apostrophe, or an apos- 
trophe with s. It is usually explained by this formula: "woman s is in 
the possessive case, possessing cape." 

c. Appositives are explained in Lesson 97, page 200. A noun is said to 
be in the same case as the noun with which it is in apposition; since casaba 
is nominative, melon is nominative. 

d. There are seven ways in which a noun may be in the objective case: 
(1) object of a verb and (2) indirect object and (3) object of a preposition 
are treated in the body of the book. (4) If a noun is in apposition with 
a noun in the objective case, it is said to be in the objective case. The 
other three kinds of objectives are discussed in the paragraphs below; 
pronouns would very rarely have any of these uses. 

(5) Objective predicate: "We considered him an honest man." An 
objective predicate always means the same person or thing as the object, 
and shows what the object becomes, is called, is made, etc. It is a kind 
of predicate to the object. Adjectives are often used as objective predi- 
cates: "The sound made me nervous." Infinitives are sometimes used 
as objective predicates: "He made me* answer." 

(6) Retained object: "We were shown a better way." W T e can hardly 
say that way is the object of a passive verb, because (1) there is no model 
for such an explanation, and (2) because we regularly have to teach that 
a passive verb never has an object. A retained object is always the result 
of turning the indirect object of an active verb into the subject of the 
passive form: "He told us a story; we were told a story by him." 

(7) Adverbial objective: "W r e walked seven miles." We might say 
that miles is an adverb because it is used to modify walked; but since it is 



*Note for Teachers: In such a construction me can be called "the subject of the infinitive"; 
but this explanation is really a piece of Latin syntax; it confuses pupils to hear that "a subject is 
fh' the objective case." Such infinitives should never be understood-^-e. g., do not say that 
to be is understood in "We considered him an honest man," for no such infinitive can be supplied 
in sentences like "We called him an honest man." 



APPENDIX 313 

modified by an adjective, we can avoid confusion only by saying that it is 
a noun in the objective case used adverbially. 

2. Construction. When we state the case of a noun and say for what 
reason it is in that case, we are said to give its "construction." 

3. Complement. The general term for all objects and predicate 
nominatives is "complement." 

4. Classes. There are four classes of nouns. 

a. A word used as the name of a particular person, place, animal, 
or thing (written with a capital letter) is called a proper noun: Napoleon, 
Front Street, Jumbo, the Leviathan. 

b. A name used for any one of a whole group of objects is a common 
noun: commander, street, elephant, steamer. (But common nouns like 
street or captain may be used as part of a proper name, and so may be 
capitalized — Captain Smith.) 

c. The name of a mere quality or condition is an abstract noun: 
height, accuracy, quickness, dexterity. No hard-and-fast line can be 
drawn between common and abstract nouns, and the distinction is of 
little value. 

d. A singular noun that names a whole group of persons or animals 
or things as one unit is a collective noun: company, swarm, fleet. A 
collective noun takes a singular verb if the whole group is spoken of as 
a unit: "The whole crowd was flurried." It may take a plural verb if the 
different individuals are referred to: "The crowd were dispersing into 
the different rooms." 

5. Gender. A noun that is used only for male beings is of the mascu- 
line gender; a noun that is used only for female beings is of the feminine 
gender. All other nouns are said to be neuter. (This distinction really 
means nothing in English, because our language has no true "grammatical 
gender." In Latin or French or German nouns do have an arbitrary 
"gender," which may not correspond to any difference of sex; but there 
is nothing like this in English.) 

6. Number. A noun which means only one is in the singular number ; 
a noun which refers to more than one is in the plural number. Certain 
peculiar plurals deserve notice. 

a. Nine familiar nouns ending in o preceded by a consonant have 
a plural in oes: echo, hero, negro, no, potato, tomato, tornado, torpedo, and 
the game of dominoes. All others may properly be formed with os.* 

b. A dozen often-used nouns ending in / or fe have a plural in ves: 
calf, elf, half, knife, leaf, life, loaf, self, shelf, thief, wife, wolf. 

c. Some nouns have only a plural form: alms, scissors, measles, 
mathematics. Such words as the last two may be used with a singular verb. 

* See "The Bottomless Pond of oes" in the English Journal for May, 1916. 



314 



THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 



d. Plurals of letters and figures are formed with an apostrophe and 
s: "three a's in Macaulay," "too many 7's." 

e. Proper names ending in y preceded by a consonant are usually 
pluralized without changing y to i: eight Henrys, both Marys. 



IV. PRONOUNS 



l. Personal 


s. Here is a table of all the forms of the personal pro- 


ms '. 


First Person 








Singular 




Plural 


nom. 


I 




we 


poss. 


my or mine 




our or ours 


obj. 


me 

Second Person, old 




us 




Singular 




Plural 


nom. 


thou 




ye 


poss. 


thy or thine 




you or yours 


obj. 


thee 

Second Person 




you 


nom. 


you 






poss. 


you or yours 






obj. 


you 

Third Person 








Singular 




Plural 


nom. 


he she 


it 


they 


poss. 


his her or hers 


its 


their or theirs 


obj. 


him her 


it 


them 



In addition there are the compound forms made by adding self and 
selves: myself, ourselves, itself, etc. There are only two proper uses of 
these: (1) as "reflexive" {he shot himself), (2) as "intensive" (I was not 
present myself). It is annoying to find students afraid of plain I and me. 

2. Uses of it. It has three uses: (1) As an ordinary personal pronoun 
referring to an antecedent, which is often in a preceding sentence. 
(2) As an expletive, used as a kind of make-believe or "dummy" subject 
when the real subject follows the verb. In such sentences the real subject 
is usually an infinitive or a clause: "It is hard to tell." "It is said that 
he has failed." (3) As an impersonal word not referring to anything that 
we can name: "It was raining." "It was ten o'clock." "It is I; be not 
afraid." If an it has no antecedent, and if there is no word (or group 



APPENDIX 315 

of words) in the sentence that is the real, logical subject, then the it is 
impersonal. 

3. Demonstratives. There are only two — this and that, with their 
plurals these and those. 

4. Indefinites: any, many, all, both, each, either, neither, few, other, 
another, more, most, much, several, some, someone. A few other words 
may be indefinites: such, same, etc. 

6. Interrogatives : who, which, and what used in asking questions. 
These often form noun clauses in indirect questions: "I asked him ivhat 
he wanted." "We wondered who was there." 

6. Relatives: who, whose, whom, which, and that when used to refer 
to an antecedent. A relative agrees with its antecedent in gender, per- 
son, and number; hence if the antecedent is plural, the verb in the relative 
clause must be plural. 

He is one of the luckiest fellows who have ever played the game. 
This is one cf the most remarkable performances that have been given 
here. 

7. Indefinite relatives are relatives compounded with ever or soever. 
They refer to a vague antecedent: 

I will take [any one] whichever you prefer. 
[He, any man] whosoever will may come. 

They also form adverb clauses: 

Whatever he says, I shall not fear. 

V. ADJECTIVES 

1. Descriptive adjectives are those which tell about the kind or quality: 
a hot afternoon, a queer reason, an affectionate child, a crimson banner. If 
adjectives clearly refer to proper nouns, they are written with capitals and 
are called proper adjectives: French, Italian, Calif ornian, Rooseveltian. 
But when an adjective of this kind has come into such common use that 
the person or place is not in our thoughts, it is no longer capitalized: a china 
vase, a macadam road. 

2. Pronominal adjectives. When any word usually called a pronoun is 
used to limit a noun or pronoun, it is called a "pronominal" adjective. 
Thus pronominals may be demonstrative (this hat), indefinite (some other 
one), interrogative (ichose book? which one?), or relative (in which event). 

3. Numerals are adjectives that tell about number: 
Thirteen weeks, a dozen answers, the first letter. 

4. Articles. A, an, and the are called "articles." In present-day English 
an is used before words that begin with a vowel sound; a is used before 



316 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

consonants, before a long u (a university), and before an h that is sounded 
(a historical event). 

5. Degree. The simple form of an adjective is called the positive degree. 

The form with er, or modified by more, is called the comparative degree : 
a harder problem, a more tidy clerk. The form with est, or modified by most, 
is called the superlative degree : the handiest tool, the most peculiar noise. 

The normal form when only two objects are spoken of is the compara- 
tive: "Which of the two is better?" 

VI. ADVERBS 

1. Not conjunctions. The most useful fact in grammar, for learning 
"sentence sense," is that the following words are adverbs.* They begin 
independent statements and must have a period (or semicolon) before them. 

then, there, finally, now, also, therefore, hence 
nevertheless, accordingly, consequently, however, still, indeed 

These adverbs do, in one sense, join clauses, for they tell the time, the 
reason, etc. So, as a matter of argument, they might be called conjunctions 
(see the next section). But as a matter of grammar and punctuation they 
are adverbs and must begin new sentences (or be used after a semicolon). 

2. Classification. Adverbs may be (and usually are) classified accord- 
ing to their meanings, though these are hardly grammatical distinctions. 
Illustrations of the five kinds are: 

a. time Come later 

b. place Stay yonder 

c. manner He piped up eagerly 

d. degree Breathing rather slowly 

e. number Which he did thrice refuse 

3. Modal Adverb. An adverb that modifies a statement by showing 
to what extent it is true is a modal adverb (or "sentence adverb," or 
"adverb of assertion"): 

He is not here. Indeed I do. Possibly he will. 

4. Interrogative. An interrogative adverb is one that asks a question: 

Why did you? When are you going? 

5. There are four words classified as adverbs because there is nothing 
else to call them. There as an "expletive" to begin a sentence, pushing the 
subject beyond the verb, is called an adverb. Yes and no, when used in 

*Note for Teachers: In a logical or rhetorical sense these words may be called conjunctions 
by the dictionaries and grammars, but that classification has nothing to do with our teaching of 
the elements of composition. These same grammars and dictionaries, in punctuating their own 
sentences, put a period or a semicolon before these independent adverbs. We must always insist 
in school that they are independent and must have a semicolon or a period before them. 



APPENDIX 317 

answers, are called adverbs. The word even, which is a free lance, used to 
intensify any part of speech, is classified as an adverb. 

Even I wept. He even stole money. It is even better. 

6. Degree. Adverbs are compared just as adjectives are: 

positive fast lazily 

comparative faster more lazily 

superlative fastest most lazily 

The remarks about the comparison of adjectives apply also to adverbs. 

VII. PREPOSITIONS 

A preposition is a word that attaches a noun or pronoun to some other 
word in such a way as to modify that other word, 

looking toward home 

the man on guard 

the thought of leaving you 

There is nothing worth adding here about the forms or classification 
of prepositions, since they are a kind of word that can be discussed only 
as we find them at work in sentences. A list of prepositions is misleading, 
for almost every one is frequently used as an adverb. Prepositions are 
thoroughly treated in Lessons 23, 73, 126. 

VIII. CONJUNCTIONS 

1. Coordinating. A word that joins two words or two phrases or two 
clauses of equal rank is a coordinating conjunction. There are few of 
them: and, but, yet, or, nor, either, neither. (There are several others that 
may be classified as coordinating — like for, so, though.* But each of these 
is more commonly used in a subordinating way.) 

men and boys 

to go now or to wait till sundown 

neither so quick nor so strong 

either when you are sad or when you are merry 

It may be true, but I doubt it. 

I am recovering, yet I am still weak. 

*Note for Teachers: To decide whether for is coordinating or subordinating may be a 
difficult task — sometimes an impossible one. It is a metaphysical discussion that should never 
be opened in the classroom. It is of no earthly use to know which kind for or though is. Hence 
the classification of conjunctions in school is unwise and may be dangerous. The most useful 
practice is to teach that for and though usually join subordinate clauses. So has become sub- 
ordinating in the last forty years; but since its subordinating use has to be discouraged in school, 
we emphasize it as coordinating. (See Lesson 114.) 



318 THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 

2. Subordinating. A word that joins a subordinate clause to a word is 
called a subordinating conjunction.* In each of the following examples 
the word to which the clause is attached is in black type; the first three 
are noun clauses used, in this order, as subject, as object, in apposition: 

1. Whether he would join us was doubtful. 

2. He asked if he might leave. 

3. A feeling that you are not icanted is unpleasant. 

4. It lay in a corner of the attic, where cobxcebs had gathered. 

5. I met him as I returned. 

6. He was talking to himself when we found him. 

7. While she coolced breakfast, we boys drew up the boat. 

8. If you hurry too much, all of your good work may be spoiled. 

IX. INTERJECTIONS 

An interjectior is a word used to show emotion: ah, 0, ouch. It has no 
syntax, but is "thrown into" the sentence as a detached, independent word. 

X. PHRASES 

A phrase is a group of words, not containing a subject and verb, used 
like a single word in a sentence. 

To have been so very negligent was the height of ill-breeding. 

Eleanor objected to our staying so long in the cabin. 

For a boy's confusion under such circumstances there is no need of excuse. 

Every long phrase is composed of some or all of the following elements: 
(1) simple prepositional phrases, (2) verbals, (3) objects or modifiers of 
(1) and (2). Hence every such complicated phrase is a pile of single words. 
A book could not teach anything by referring in a general way to such a 
whole mass. We must know about the elements, must understand the 
prepositions and participles and adverbs. Therefore in learning about 
sentence structure this vague use of "phrase" would be confusing; we apply 
it only to 'prepositional phrase. 

XI. CLAUSES 

There are two kinds of clauses: 

1. A clause that could stand by itself as a separate sentence is called 
independent (or the principal or main clause). When two or more inde- 
pendent clauses are joined to make a compound sentence, they are called 
coordinate (of equal rank). 

*Note for Teachers: Subordinating conjunctions are often called "conjunctive adverbs" 
or "relative adverbs." Such names are misleading. A conjunction like when is not really modi- 
fying anything. One grammar says that it modifies the verb in the subordinate clause; another 
says that it modifies the verb in the main clause. Any such subtlety about modifying is destruc- 
tive. What pupils need to know is that when joins a subordinate clause to some one word in the 
main clause. The two following ideas, and no others, should be driven home: (1) a subordinating 
conjunction is purely a joining word; (2) it "hooks" its clause to some one word in the main clause. 



APPENDIX 319 

2. A clause that is used like a noun or adjective or adverb is called 
subordinate (of lower rank). 

XII. SENTENCES 

1. As to meaning. Sentences are classified thus as to their meaning: 

a. A sentence that makes a statement is "declarative." 

b. A sentence that asks a question is "interrogative." 

c. A sentence that gives a command is "imperative." 

d. A sentence that expresses emotion by its form is called "exclamatory." 
Any of the first three kinds of sentences may be made exclamatory by writ- 
ing it with an exclamation mark: "You are not a scoundrel!" "What have 
you done!" "Fire!" 

2. As to structure. With reference to the clauses they contain, sen- 
tences are of three kinds: 

a. A sentence that has only one clause is called "simple." A simple 
sentence may have several subjects and several verbs, but every verb ap- 
plies to every subject, or vice versa: " Hal and you and I will sit in the 
stern and try to balance the boat." 

b. A sentence that contains only one independent clause and one or more 
dependent clauses is called "complex": "If you eat it because you like it, 
I will ask how is it made." 

c. A sentence that contains two or more independent clauses is called 
"compound": "He told us what to do if it snowed, but he never dreamed 
that it would rain." 

XIII. ELLIPSES 

1. Real. Words that are easily understood are often omitted. Some- 
times both subject and verb are omitted: "[You be] Steady there!" As 
and than are commonly followed by elliptical constructions: "He is not 
so tall as I [am]." "The Pacific is larger than the Atlantic [is]." 

2. False. But, except for such cases, it is poor policy to understand 
words in explaining syntax. If, for example, we wish to explain the con- 
struction of place in "This seems a good place to eat," we shall be wrong if 
we say that place is the object of an understood like, or that it is the predi- 
cate after an understood to be. No such words need to be supplied. If we put 
them in, we are not explaining the given word, but are talking about a dif- 
ferent sentence that we have manufactured. Place is a predicate nominative 
after seems. It is always wrong to express the same meaning in other 
words, and then to explain those other words. We must explain the sen- 
tence as it stands. 

But supplying an ellipsis does not change any construction; it simply 
shows the only construction there could be. 



INDEX 



a words in spelling, 24, 31, 70, 22(3 

Ability, see Minimum 

Abstract, see Nouns, classified 

Accent, 34 

accept, 226 

Accusative, 311 

across, 32 

Action in composition, 91; see De- 
scription, action in 

Active, 292, 294, 305, 308, 311 

address, 258 

Addresses of letters, 69, 75, 86, 97; 
see Letters in Contents 

Address, letter about change of, 85 

Address, noun of, 102; see Nouns of 
address; see Commas 

Adjectives, 213, 223, 235, 295; see 
fid, al, etc.; classified, 228, 315; 
defined, 229; numeral, 229; predi- 
cate, 259, 293; distinguished from 
adverbs, 259; proper, 228; super- 
lative of, 174; verbal, see Parti- 
ciple 
Adverbs, 239, 310; defined, 266; 
classified, 316; conjunctive, 318; 
of degree, 265; distinguished 
from predicate adjectives, 259, 
266; distinguished from prepo- 
sitions, 263, 266; distinguished 
from conjunctions, 316; inter- 
rogative, 258 
Advertisements for letters, 139 

140, 217 
affect, 226 
affectionately, 226 
again, 268 
against, 268 

Agreement, of relatives, 315; of verb, 
185; see Subjects of verbs, Num- 
ber 
Agriculture, IT. S. Department of, 

280, 283 

321 



al, 225 

Alligator, theme, 22 
all right, 22, 58, 65 
almost, 74 

Alphabetical arrangement, 30, 81 
already, 74 
altogether, 74, 171 
always, 74 

Ambiguous pronouns, 121 
American, see Agriculture, Trans- 
portation, Heating, etc. 
among, 32 

and, habit, 6, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 53, 
54, 59, 28, 33, 52, 53, 54, 59, 81, 
147, 152, 249; punctuation of, 
156; substitutes for, 54, 55 
angel, 200 

Animal, description of an, 123 
answer, 210 
Antecedent, 314, 315 
any, 31 
anything, 31 
anywhere, 172 
apiece, 216 
Apostrophe, 99, 165, 200, 212, 261, 

312, 314 
Application for position, 203, 205, 

217, 271 
Appositive, 200, 201, 311, 312; see 

Commas, Infinitives, Clauses 
aren't, 165 
arguing, 112 
argument, 113 

Argument in compositions, 130, 240, 
242, 246, 251, 270, 271; see De- 
bate, Trial 
Armenia, 209 
around, 268 
arouse, 268 
arrangement, 226 
Arthur, King, 191 
article, 258 



322 



THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 



Articles, 229, 315 

as, 319 

asks, 65 

at all, 65 

ate, 79 

athletics, 258 

at last, 65 

Attention, position of, 198 

Audubon Association, 280 

Authorities, 251, 283, 284 

Auxiliaries, 309, 310 

awful, 238 

Baker Company, see Basketball 

Banquet, 145 

Barnum's Museum, 1G6 

Baseball recruit, 179 

Basketball letters, 257, footnote 

Battle, composition on, 22S 

bear, 157 

before, 32 

begin, drill in forms, 248 

beginning, 220 

Beginning compositions, 19, 20, 39, 
40,43,50,67,78,116,228 

Beginning sentences, 25, 26, 28, 29, 
71, 80, 179, 226; see and habit, 
so, Rest period, Prepositions, Sen- 
tence Work in Contents 

believe, 209, 216 

benefit, 210 

Bicycle ride, My first, 17, IS 

Bicycbs, old, 142 

Birds, in themes, 68; lists of, 128; 
newspaper, 129; song, 252 

Black Beauty, 230 

Body of letter, 85; see Letters in 
Contents 

Bones, 158 

Book, description of my, 173 

Boone, 28 

boulder, 217 

break, 125, 157 

Breathing, 18, 54 

brief, 216 

bring, drill in forms, 173 

Buccaneer, The Old, 219 

Bunker Hill, 228 



but, 233, 234, 249 

busier, 222 

business, 222 

Butcher and his family, A, 221 

Camel, 247 

Camera, letter about, 139; see Eagle 

Camp argument, 271 

Camps advertised, 140 

can't, 165 

Capitals, 315; see Nouns, Adjectives 
classified; see Letter forms 

captain, 268 

careful, 238 

carefully, 189 

Carefulness, 21, 25, 36, 39, 40, 100, 
185, 189, 203, etc. ; in penmanship, 
81, 116; see Habit in spelling, 
Idiom, etc.; see and, so, Spacing, 
Improvement, etc. 

Carelessness, 112; see Carefulness 

carries, 221 

Case, 308 

catch, 157 

Center of population, 110 

certain, 26S 

Challenge, 181 

Character in description, 180; see 
Description 

Character sketch, 219, 221 

Check, 265 

Chicago, politeness in, 179 

chief, 216 

Christmas Carol, A, 103 

Church, smallest in the country, 142 

Class book, 285 

Clauses: classified, 318; adjective, 
275, 287, 289, and see Pronouns 
relative, who, etc.; adverb, 276, 
315, and see Clauses subordinate 
and introductory, Conjunctions 
subordinating; introductory, 106, 
172, 226; noun, 278, 318; princi- 
pal (or coordinate), 89, 126, 206, 
233, 245, 290, 318, 319; sub- 
ordinate, 89, 96, 113, 123, 131, 
147, 226, 290, 318 

Cliff, climbing of. 87 



INDEX 



Climax, 148; see End 

Close, complimentary, 85; of 
themes, see End 

coarse, 70 

Coherence, 152, 207; see Descrip- 
tion, order in, Paragraphs, Out- 
lines, etc. 

Collective, 313 

Colon, 76 

coming, 112 

Command, see Imperative 

Commas: in addresses, 75-78, 97, 
190; in letter forms, 69, 85, 86, 
98, and see Envelopes, Heading, 
Letters in Contents; with nouns 
of address, 102, 157, 171; with 
appositives, 200; with and, 249; 
with but, 233; with dates, 190, and 
see Letters; with for, 245; with 
quotations, 250, 251, 254, and see 
Quotation marks; with intro- 
ductory clause, 96, 172, 226; with 
participle groups, 255; with series, 
156, 166, 171; with so, 236, 249; 
with yes and no, 102, 157, 171 

Comma blunder, fault, sentence, see 
Sentence error 

Comma Book, 6, 157; see Punctua- 
tion lessons in Contents 

Community improvement, 161 

Comparative, comparison, see De- 
gree 

Complement, 313 

Composition, see Oral, Written in 
Contents; see the titles and sub- 
jects 

conceit, 264 

Conjugations, 306, 307 

Conjunctions: classified, 316, 317; 
coordinating, 249, 317, and see 
and, but, for, so, and Clauses prin- 
cipal; subordinating, 123, 276, 
317, and see when, if, etc., and 
Clauses subordinate; omitted, 278 

Connecting sentences, 18; see and 
so, Rest period 

Consonants, 153, 185, 222; see 
Doubling 



Construction, 313 

Contractions, 239, 165, 200, 212, 

239 
controlling, 220 

Conversation, 89, 91; see Interview 
copies, 153 
corner, 261 
Correlatives, 317 
course, 261 
coward, 83 
cried, 200 
cries, 87 
crowd, 48 
Crowding words, 38; see Spacing 

Dates, 69, 171; see Letters 

Debate, 279, 284; see Argument 

deceive, 264 

defining words, 232, 234, 237 

definite, 189 

definitely, 257 

Degree of adjectives and adverbs, 
174, 222, 316, 317 

delayed, 257 

Demonstrative, see Pronouns 

denies, 153 

describe, 174 

description, 174 

Description in composition,* 115, 
148, 184, etc.; see Oral, Written 
in Contents; defined, 219; action 
in, 178, 184, 212, 230; atmosphere 
in, 141; character in, 180, 219; 
coherence in, see order in, below; 
observing for, 123, 173; odor in, 
141, 215; order in, 184, 198; per- 
sonal element in, 180; not sar- 
casm in, 221; sound in, 212, 221; 
detective work in, 195; was in, 
194, 212; interest in, see Interest 

despair, 174 

destroy, 174 

Detective work, 195 

Devil's Tower, 60 

Diacritical marks, 30, 34, 81 

Dialog, 112, 122, 144; see Quota- 
tions direct, said words, Interest 

Dickens, 103, 118 



324 



THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 



Dictionary work, 29, 207, etc.; see 

Contents 
Differentiated courses, 7 
dining, 112 
disagree, 268 
disappear, 268 
disappointed, 268 
divide, 188 
do, drill in forms, 36; in verbs, 82; 

regular, 306 
Dodson, 253 
does, 48 

doesn't, 166, 167 
don't, 165, 167 
double, 217 
Doubling consonants, 174, 185, 189, 

195, 220, 257 
dragged, 185 
draw, drill in forms, 88 
Drawing, 164 
Dreams, 188 
drink, drill in forms, 199 
drive, drill in forms, 190 
dropped, 185 
dying, 238 

e, dropping, 112, 221; in spelling 
words, 174, 210, 256 

ea words in spelling, 41, 157 

each, 183, 185, 228 

Eagle and camera man, 116 

easier, 222 

eat, drill in forms, 79 

ed, in spelling verbs, 185, 257, 306; 
see Doubling 

effect, 175 

Efficiency in teaching, 7; see Ex- 
perience 

Egypt, 246 

ei words, 264 

either, 185, 264 

Ellipses, 319 

Embarrassing moment, 169 

Emphasis, see End 

End of themes, 39, 40, 44, 67, 78, 
148, 188, 228, 230, 245 

enemy, 175 

enough, 42 



entirely, 257 

Enunciation, 18, 21, 33, 81, 146 

Envelopes, 98, 202 

Essentials, see Minimum 

est, endings, 174, 222, 307, 316 

etc., 226 

even, 317 

ever words, 172, 277, 315 

Evers, 179 

every, 48 

everyone, 186 

except, 175 

Exclamation mark, 250, 312, 319 

Experience in teaching, 3, 4, 5, 8 

Explanation, 6, 134, 137, 148, 151, 
155, 158, 159, 161, 164, 170, 198, 
236; see Oral, Written in Contents 

Expletive, 154, 299, 314, 316; see 
there, it 

Exposition, see Explanation 

Eyes, when speaking, 19 

February, 172 

field, 209 

fierce, 209 

finally, 189 

Finding a place, 155 

Fire in a trench, 152 

Fire-making, 58 

First Aid, 159 

Folding letters, 97 

for, 245 

Ford, our own particular, 180 

Form of composition, 37, 38, 44; 
see Indenting, Title, etc. 

Form of letters, 69, 75; see Head- 
ing, Envelope, etc. 

Forms, similar together in spelling, 
see Similar 

forty, 238 

freight, 264 

friend, 216 

ful, 238 

Future, 308 

Game, some unusual, 120 
Gender, 313 
generally, 189 



INDEX 



325 



Gerunds, 227, 256, 297, 309, 311; 
see Verbs, distinguished from 

Ghost story, 243 

Gift of the Magi, The, 188 

Girl Scouts, 164 

give, drill in forms, 1C5 

Gluck, 92 

go, drill in forms, 29 

good, 259 

grabbed, 185 

grammar, spelling of, 24, 47, 58, 65 

Grammar, in composition, 4, 5, 7, 
52, 53, 80, etc.; forms and classi- 
fication of, 305-319; see Sentence 
Work in Contents, Sentence error, 
Prepositions, etc. 

great, 157 

Grizzly and mountain lions, 25 

grow, drill in forms, 227 

Habits: in composition, see and, 
so, Rest period, etc.; in idiom, 
21, 52, 301, and see Right Forms 
in Contents; in punctuation, 218, 
227, 234, 301; in spelling, 5, 7, 
47-48, 66, 88, 126, 175, 189, 300, 
and see Trouble spots, and see 
most of the spelling lessons; with 
verbs, 81, and see Right Forms in 
Contents; see Carefulness 

Hallowe'en, 68, 101 

happiness, 222 

hasn't, 165, 217 

have, spelling, 41; in contractions, 
165, 212; regular, 306 

haven't, 165 

Heading, 69, 75; see Letters in 
Contents 

Heating the American home, 286 

heavier, 222 

Heidegger, 106 

Henry, 188 

her, 186 

Hiawatha, 62 

Highlander, 176 

Highland regiment, 178 

his, 186 

hoarse, 70 



Hog and cocoanut, 74 
Holmes, 228 
Holy Grail, The, 17 
hoping, 112 
Horse race, 231 
how, 123, 258 
hurriedly, 189 
hurries, 153 
Hyphens, 74, 171 

i, words in spelling, 188 

Idioms: good habits in, 21, and see 
Habits; improving, 52, 146, 147, 
207, 244, 259, 301, and see Right 
Forms in Contents 

ie words, 209 

ied forms, 200 

ies, 87, 153, 157; see y 

if, 123, 132, 276, 278 

I'll, 212 

I'm, 212 

immediately, 226 

Imperative, 176, 254, 307, 309, 319 

Improvement: see Habit, Interest, 
Idiom, Carefulness, Minimum, 
Spelling, etc. 

Indefinite, see Pronouns 

Indention, 38, 85 

Indian: fire, 58; legend, 60; pre- 
tending to kill, 99 

Indicative, 307, 308 

Indorsing composition, 38, 125 

in fact, 65 

Infinitives, 126, 196, 298, 309, 310, 
312 

ing forms, 195, 238, 308; see 
Doubling 

in spite, 65 

interest, spelling, 210 

Interest in composition, 50, 62, 91, 
92, 110, 122, 170; see Quotations 
direct, Rest period, Description, 
etc. 

Interjections, 315 

Interview, 93, 95, 108, 110, 134, 142 

Intransitive, 293 

Irregular verbs, 306 

Irving, 184, 221 



THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 



isn't, 165, 217 

it, expletive, 299; three uses of, 314 

its, 65, 186 

I've, 212 

Jazz for animals, 56 
Judges, 271, 281, 282 
Jury, 282 
just, 157 

King's Mountain, battle of, 224 
Knife denned, 232 
Knot, 164 

know, spelling, 31; drill in forms, 59 
Knowledge, see Minimum essen- 
tials, Ability 

I, doubling, 189 

ladies, 157 

Lady or the Tiger, The, 188 

laid, 74 

lain, 44; see lie 

lay, 44; see lie 

led, 41 

Letter forms, 68, 69, 262, etc. ; see 

Contents; see Heading, Body, 

Envelope, etc. 
Letters: folding, 97; facsimile, 101; 

see Order, Application, etc. 
level, 48, 200 
lie, 44, 87, 238 
like, 158, 319 
Lincoln at the fair grounds, 172; 

his spelling, 109 
loneliness, 222 
lonely, 256 
Longfellow, 62 
lose, 73, 83 
lovely, 256 
luckier, 222 
ly, 189, 222, 239, 256 
lying, 238 

Mad dog, 187 
Magician, 138 
Mail, U. S., 285 
many, 31 
Margin, 38 



Marley, 103 

Mastery, 147; see Habit, Careful- 
ness, Improvement 

Mathematics vs. history, 93 

meant, 24 

Midnight visitor, 25 

Minimum ability for promotion, 
summaries of, 80, 147, 206, 300 

Minimum essentials, 5, 7; see Mini- 
mum ability 

minute, 267 

Mode, 307 

modifies, 87 

Modify, in grammar, 229 

Money, my first, 66 

Mountain, scrambling up the, 93 

move, 73, 83 

Movie of sea battle, 56 

Moving pictures, 178; see Descrip- 
tion, action in 

Narration, 6; see Story 

Narrow escape, A, 18 

naturally, 189 

Naval battle, 56 

necessary, 172 

neither, 186, 264 

N. E. R., 208 

new, 157 

Newspapers, 170, 217; see Paper . 

Nicholas Nickleby, 118 

nickel, 200 

ninth, 113 

no, an adverb, 258; see Commas 

Nominative: of pronouns, 260; 
constructions of, 312;. see Subjects, 
Predicate nominative, Appositive 

Non-restrictive participles, 256 

not, 165, 239 

Notes, see Outlines 

Noticing, power of, 115; see De- 
scription, Observation 

Nouns: of address, 102, 157, 312; 
classified, 35, 150, 223, 313; de- 
fined, 35; plurals, 157, 261; cases 
of, 311; as subjects, 45, 153, etc., 
and see Subjects; verbal, see 
Gerunds 



INDEX 



327 



nowhere, 171, 172 

Number, 307, 313; see Singular, 
Plural, Nouns, Pronouns, Verbs 
Numbering pages, 38 
Numerals, 315 

Object: indirect, 273; of preposi- 
tions, 158, 168, 175, 192, and see 
Prepositions; of verbs, 271, 292; 
relatives as, 287 

Objective uses classified, 312 

Objectivitis, 272 

Observation, 246; see Description 

obstacle, 109 

occurred, 220 

occurrence, 220 

o'clock, 200 

of, 72 

offered, 257 

one, 185 

opened, 257 

opportunity, 110 

Oral Composition, 6, 17, 19, 22, 28, 
32, etc.; see Contents 

Order, 207; see Description 

Order letters, 201 

ought, 97 

Our Young People, 125 

Outlines, 225, 228, 236; see Para- 
graphs 

paid, 74 

Panther story, 49 

Paper, school, 110, 130 

Parachute, 160 

Paragraphs, 38, 39, 40, 43, 50, 85, 

122, 152, 173, 191, 225; for oral, 

220; for quotations, 110 
Participles, 196, 295, 309, 311, 312; 

passive, 296; groups, 255 
particle, 258 
Parts of speech, defined, 223; see 

Words 
Passive, 292, 294, 297, 305, 308, 

309, 311 
Pausing, see Rest period 
Pencil denned, 232 



perform, 32 

perhaps, 32 

Periods, 40, 104, 157, 171, 254, 316; 
see Rest period, Sentence error 

Person, 176, 307, 309 

Personal element in description, 180 

Personal pronouns, 175; see Pro- 
nouns, Person 

Photograph, 204 

Phrase, 64, 158, 310, 318; as ad- 
jective or adverb, 269, 312; in- 
troductory, 226; see Preposition 

piece, 209, 216 

Pig-iron story, 149 

Pioneer days, 51, 141 

Pirates, 52 

planned, 185 

pleasant, 217 

Pluperfect, 308 

Plurals of nouns, 261, 307, 313, 314 

Poacher, 284 

Politeness, 179 

Positive, see Degree 

Possessive: of nouns, singular, 99; 
plural, 261; of pronouns, 65, 83; 
as a case, 312 

Practice for composition, 22, 28, 
33, 59, 89, 108, 135, 215 

Predicate: defined, 310; adjectives, 
214, and see Adjective; nomina- 
tive, 210, 214, 272, 278, 293, 299; 
objective, 312; of personal pro- 
nouns, 260 

Prepositions, 63, 66, 158, 168, 175, 
192, 226, 234, 245, 272, 310; de- 
fined, 317; applied in composi- 
tion, 71, 72, 74, 106; at end of 
clause, 288; distinguished from 
adverbs, 263; not to be under- 
stood, 274 

principal, 225 

Principal clause, see Clause 

Principal parts, 306 

probably, 213 

Pronouns: ambiguous, 121; in ap-j 
position, 201; compound, 314,1 
and see ever; defined, 42; demon- 
strative, 183, 315; distinguished 



328 



THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 



Pronouns (continued) 

from adjectives, 228; impersonal, 
314; indefinite, 183, 185, 228, 315; 
intensive, 314; interrogative, 113, 
315; personal, 113, 132, 175, 192, 
260, 304, 314; reflexive, 311; 
relative, 96, 113, 275, 278, 287, 
288, 315; relative, constructions 
of, 288, 289, 294; singular for 
singular antecedent, 185; right 
uses of, 121, 175, 183, 186, 192, 
193, 206, 260, understood, 131; 
spelling of possessive, 65, 83. 

Pronunciation, 29; see Dictionary 

Proof, 22; see Argument 

Proper, see Nouns, Adjectives class- 
ified 

prove, 74 

Pumpkin's success, 37 

Punctuation, 5, 38, 40, 69, 75, 207, 
etc. ; see Comma, Period, etc. ; see 
Heading, Envelopes, etc.; see 
Contents, Comma Book; see 
Habit 

Pup and game-cock, 84 

Pup and kettle, 240 

pursuing, 112 

Questions: direct for interest, 92, 
94; in quotations, 250 and see 
Quotations; as sentences, 113, 
124; subject in, 46; indirect, 89, 
91, 113, 315; see Question mark; 
see Interview 

Question mark, 25, 102, 109, 157, 
234, 236 

quiet, 258 

quite, 213 

Quotations: for interest, 62, 91, 92, 
94, 103, and see Quotations di- 
rect; direct, undivided, 37, 94, 
103, 104, 110, 119, 121, 130, 135, 
136, 144, 147, 149, and see Quo- 
tation marks; divided, 251, 254 

Quotation marks, 250-254 

Radio, 139 
really, 189 



Reasoning, 241, 242; see Argument 

receive, 264 

Regular verbs, 306 

Rehearsal for composition, see Prac- 
tice 

relieve, 209 

replies, 153 

Rest cure, see Rest period 

Rest period, 18, 19, 52, 53, 54, 59, 
67, 92, 138, 170, 225 

Restrictive, see Non-restrictive 

Review, see Spelling, Punctuation, 
etc., in Contents; see Habit, Care- 
fulness 

Revising, 244; see Carefulness, 
Practice 

ride, drill in forms, 211 

Right forms, 21, etc.; see Contents 

ring, drill in forms, 114 

Rip Van Winkle, 93, 107 

road, 157 

rode, 41 

Room described, 194 

Rope story, 53 

rough, 42 

run, drill in forms, 155 

s: adverb ending, 172; for posses- 
sive, 99; for third person singu- 
lar, 65 

safety, 257 

said, 74 

Said words, 92-95, 103, 104, 108, 
110, 119, 122, 135, 136, 251, 255 

Salutation, 76 

sat, 51 

scaring, 112 

Schools old and new, 134 

Scott, 284 

Scouts, see Girl 

Scrooge, 103 

Sea serpent, 53 

see, drill in forms, 21 

seize, 264 

Self-starters for paragraphs, 191 

self pronouns, 314 

Semicolon, 316 

sense, 48, 84 



INDEX 



329 



sentence, 175 

Sentences: classified, 319; com- 
plete, see Sentence error; com- 
plex, 319, and see Clauses sub- 
ordinate; compound, 233, 249, 
319, and see Conjunctions co- 
ordinating, And, but, for, so; 
simple, 22, 113, 124, 132, and see 
all Sentence Work lessons through 
page 87; simple with more than 
one verb, 86, 319 

Sentence error, 38, 80, 81, 89, 96, 
113, 124, 126, 131, 147, 148, 160, 
187, 194, 249, 254 

Sentence improvement, 18, 28, 54, 
66, 72, 73, 170, 301; see Begin- 
ning, Sentence error, and, so, 
Habit, Rest period, Sentence sense 

Sentence sense, 4, 5, 18, 25, 38, 316; 
see Sentence Work in Contents 

Sentence Work, 4, 25, 80, etc.; see 
Contents; see Minimum ability 

separate, 24, 47 

Series, see Commas 

Setting a bone, 158 

shall, 308, 310 

shan't, 165 

Sharp, 280 

Sheridan, B. M., 4 

shining, 112 

shone, 41 

Shorthand reports of oral, 6, 17, 19, 
52 

shoulder, 217 

Signature, 85 

Silver, 52 

Similar forms together, 32, 70, 73, 
83, 209, etc.; see most of the 
spelling lessons 

since, 213 

sincerely, 256 

sing, drill in forms, 122 

Singular subject, 185, 307; defined, 
313; see Subjects 

Sir Launfal, 17 

sit, drill in forms, 51 

Skates, 130 

Sketch for explanation, 164 



Sketch, see Character 

Sheet bend, 164 

Snow-Bound, 211 

So habit, 6, 17, etc.; see the refer- 
ences under and habit; 235, 317 

so with period, 235; with comma, 
249 

so that, 236, 276 

Soldiers, 178, 198 

Solid words, 74 

something, 157 

somewhere, 172 

Song birds, 252 

Spacing words, 38, 39, 40 

Sparrow, 283 

speak, 41 

speech, 175 

Spelling: articles on, 4, 313; care 
in, 40, 51, and see Habit, and see 
most of the lessons; grading of, 
25; matches, 163, 181, 302; 
plurals, 313; technique of, 5 

Sphinx, 247 

Squeers, 118 

Squirrel, debate on, 279 

Squirrel's trick, 33 

stayed, 257 

Stevenson, 52, 178, 215 

stirred, 185 

Stockton, 188 

stopped, 185 

Story, 17, 19, 149, 181, 187, etc.; 
of a horse, 230; of a ghost, 243; 
see the titles; see Oral, Written 
in Contents 

straight, 261 

stretch, 48 

studies, 153 

Stung! 149 ! 

Subjects of verbs, 45, 46, 48, 107, 108, 
153, 168, 176, 183, 193, 210, 214, 
278, 299, 314; see Verbs; see 
Sentence Work in Contents; com- 
pound subject, 86, 166, 249, 319; 
of imperative, 176, 254, 319; in 
questions, 153, 294; singular and 
plural, 307; of infinitive, 312 
(note) 



330 



THE JUNIOR HIGHWAY 



Subjunctive, 304, 306 
Subordinate, see Clause, Conjunc- 
tion 
sugar, 83 

Summary, see Minimum ability 
Summer school, 108 
Superlative, see Degree 
sure, 47, 83 
surely, 256 
surprise, 216 
Syllables, 34 
Synonyms, 93 

take, 84 

tear, 157, 234 

Tenses, 305, 306, 308, 310 

than, 319 

that: conjunction, 278, and see Con- 
junctions subordinating; demon- 
strative, 183; relative, 275, 287, 
288, 294, and see Pronouns rela- 
tive 

their, 48, 186 

then, 249 

there, spelling. 175; expletive, 154, 
175, 258, 299, 316 

thief, 209 

thing for definitions, 232 

this, 183 

thou, 307 

though, 54 

throw, spelling. 31; drill in forms, 
140 

ties, 87 

Title of composition, 38; for para- 
graphs, 225, 228 

to words, 196; see Infinitives 

Toasts, 145 

together, 171 

told, 41 

too, 22, 58, 110 

Topic sentence, 191 

toward, 47, 83, 171 

Transitive, 292, 294, 305 

Transportation, 286 

Trap, the third, 67 

Treasure, 52 

Treasure Island, 219 



Trial of Mr. Sparrow, 282 

Trick, 138 

tried, 200 

tries, 87, 221 

trouble, 217 

Trouble spots, 5, 47; see Similar 

forms together 
try, 87 
tying, 238 

Understood words, see Words, 
Ellipses, Imperative 

Unity, 6; see Beginning, End, Para- 
graphs 

until, 48 

used, 257 

using, 112 

usually, 189 

Verbs : defined, 26 ; forms and classi- 
fications of, 305; agreement with 
subject, 307; as clues to sentence- 
structure, 26, 27, 41, 45, 57, 86, 
126, 132, 162, 223, 234; forms of, 
see Right Forms in Contents; 
see ed, ing, s, Doubling, for spell- 
ing; distinguished from verbals, 
adjectives, etc., for training in 
sentence sense, 27, 41, 48, 63, 82, 
108, 126, 131, 162, 196, 206, 295. 
and see Participle, Infinitive. 
Gerund; of four words, 107; com- 
pound, 319; with compound sub- 
ject, see Subject; conjugations of, 
306; principal parts of, 306 

Verbals, distinguished from verbs, 
48, 57, 126, 206, 295, 310; see 
Participle, Infinitive, Gerund 

very, 109 

view, 216 

View, description of a, 184 

Visit, letter for, 73 

Vocabularv improvement, 187, 195, 
215 

Vocative, see Noun of address 

Voice, 305; see Active, Passive 

Vowels, 153, 185 



INDEX 



331 



Wages, 204 

was in description, 194 

wasn't, 165 

Water fight, 32 

Water, power of, 109 

weak, 41 

wear, 157 

weather, 226 

Wednesday, 172 

week, 175 

weight, 264 

weird, 264 

?6'eW, vs. 0OOG?, 259 

well habit, 33 

weni, 29 

were for subjunctive, 304 

weren't, 165 

tr/ia£, 294; see Pronouns relative 

whatever, 172, 277 

w/ien, 123, 226, 258, 276, 318; in 
definitions, 237 

whenever, 172, 277 

where, 123, 131, 258; in definitions, 
237 

where words, 172 

wherever, 172, 226, 277 

whether, 123, 175, 278 

which, 113, 275, 287, 294; see Pro- 
nouns relative 

whichever, 172 

while, 226 



who, 113, 131, 275, 287, 294; see 

Pronouns relative 
whoever, 172 
whose, 47, 83 
why, 123, 258, 278 
Windmill, girl on, 181 
without, 171 
wonderful, 238 
won't, 165 
Wooster, 219 
Words: not in themselves parts of 

speech, 223, 228, 233, 234; not to 

be understood, 312 (note), 319; 

omitted, 316; that are not verbs, 

see Verbs 
woman, 48 
women, 174 
write, 70 
writing, 112 
Written Composition, 6, 36, 39, 

42, etc.; see Contents; facsimile 

of, 37 

y changed to i, 222, 257, 314; see 
ies, ied, busier, etc. 

yes, an adverb, 258, 316; see Com- 
mas 

Zero group, 131, 160, 290; see 
Verbals, Conjunctions subordi- 
nating, Sentence error 



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